The exterior of St. John's Regional Medical
Center displays the danger patients and
workers experienced during the storm.
In May 2011, as tornado sirens sounded, hospital workers at St. John's Regional Medical Center rushed to pull 183 patients to safety as one of the largest tornadoes on record bared down on their southwestern Missouri city. Breaking glass and the roar of the powerful storm deafened the dark hospital as power was lost.
The main entrance and lobby of the St.
John's administrative building
shows the
remnants of shattered glass
and flying
debris.
Dennis Manley, the hospital's director of quality
and risk management, played a critical role as the
hospital's incident commander following the deadly tornado. Guiding his hospital through a chaotic disaster
was challenging but not completely unfamiliar
territory thanks to training he received two years
prior at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP)
in Anniston, Ala.
"The CDP training is about as close as you can get to the real thing," Manley said. "I wanted realistic training and the CDP delivered. There is no substitute to real-life experience, but the CDP training mimicked it very closely."
Vehicles tossed by the storm litter St. John's parking lot.
Manley attended the CDP's Healthcare Leadership
(HCL) for All-Hazards Incidents training in
2009, followed by Hospital Emergency Response
Training (HERT) for Mass-Casualty Incidents later
that year. According to Manley, the training not only
enhanced his ability to respond to a mass casualty
incident, but also provided an example of the many
emergency roles his staff would tackle because of
the tornado.
The interior of St. John's main
entrance provides an example
of the destruction inside the
hospital.
"The CDP
training
helped me
fulfill my role
with more
confidence," Manley said.
Manley
stressed
the hands-on
portions of training were most helpful and has
recommended CDP training to his leadership and
colleagues in the healthcare community. He also
stated that training in an actual hospital, the Noble
Training Facility
(NTF), better prepared
him for the disaster
and ultimate
response.
"By training in a
hospital, the experience
is more life-like
and real," Manley
said. "You feel like
you are actually participating in a
disaster, not just
pretending. That
makes it easier to
apply what you have
learned to the real
thing."