During the past several months, Titusville has been the scene of various
non-violent protests — but what if one of these protests became violent?
On Thursday morning, area residents with scanners probably heard the 911
call come over the airwaves reporting that there was an incident occurring
at Robert’s Grove, an incident involving “massive injuries.”
When emergency responders arrived, they saw numerous “victims of
a protest that turned violent” who were sitting or laying on the
basketball court at the park, which is located across from Titusville
Area Hospital (TAH), on Oak Street.
According to Holli Wolfe, TAH director of marketing and foundation, the
“victims” were part of a mass casualty preparedness drill
held by the hospital.
Wolfe said the drill, initiated in the park, where a large group of protestors
(student volunteers from the Venango Technology Center Practical Nursing
Program) began to become violent and engage with police officers.
She said that the “victims” were then transported from the
park to the TAH emergency room.
Wolfe added that approximately 20 nursing students participated in the drill.
“Our staff handled it well,” Wolfe said. “The staff triaged
the ‘victims’ as they came in to determine the severity of
injuries.”
She said that “victims” who could walk from the scene entered
the hospital’s front lobby where they were evaluated by staff.
Wolfe said the emergency room department’s staff were primarily involved
in the drill.
Titusville Area Hospital CEO Lee Clinton said, “The drill was a full
scale exercise to assess the hospital’s ability to provide immediate
care for multiple causalities, secure the premises from unauthorized entry,
and identify command staff in an emergent situation.”
In addition, an EmergyCare ambulance, staffed by Joe Horst and Todd Greer,
transported “victims” to the hospital’s emergency room.
Horst said the drills are held to make sure the ambulance staff knows what
to do if a mass casualty event would occur.
“Our training keeps our skills sharp,” Greer added.
Wolfe said planning of the drill began several months ago.
The drill involved many key agencies in the community that would be involved
in a real situation.
Agencies included Titusville city police, Emergycare, Titusville Fire Department,
Crawford County emergency dispatch, and the visiting nurse association (VNA).
“We also had many volunteers from the Venango Technology Center Practical
Nursing Program to pose as the victims,” Wolfe said.
According to Brian Maginnis, TAH safety officer, “The exercise did
not affect patient care for the true patients at TAH. It went smoothly
and as hoped. We are very proud of the staff at TAH for acting upon the
drill as if it were a true emergent situation. The drill demonstrated
immense teamwork from all agencies proving our capabilities in any situation.”
Wolfe said the drill began with a call to 911 reporting that there was
a disturbance in Robert’s Grove, followed by a mock lockdown of
the hospital.
She added that the Venango Tech students gathered in the hospital’s
education center prior to the drill so they could be “prepped with
make-up” to appear as though they suffered injuries.
“We wanted to make it as real as possible,” Wolfe said. “Our
staff did a great job. It really worked well.”
This is the third drill TAH has been involved with in the past year.
Wolfe said the hospital held a table top exercise for a severe weather
(tornado) drill that was conducted in April. And, in August 2016, TAH
participated in an active shooter drill held by the University of Pittsburgh
at Titusville.
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Hill can be reached by email, at
mhill@titusvilleherald.com.