Emergency responders take training

McCook Fire Chief Marc Harpham updates a responsibilities flow chart during a mass casualty training exercise at the McCook Municipal Center. (Bruce Baker/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Nebraska -- Those who have served in our nation's armed forces are likely familiar with the phrase, "hurry up and wait." It is commonly used to describe the two phases of existence for enlisted individuals, the whirlwind of training and deployment activity coupled with the lull that exists the rest of the time.

City of McCook police and fire personnel can likely relate to the adage, having a similar routine themselves. When local emergency responders are not racing to a local crisis, they are often engaged in a mix of classroom and simulated training exercises.

Earlier this month city emergency responders combined with county, college and hospital officials for a two day mass casualty training exercise.

McCook firefighter/paramedic Mike Schoenemann sorts triage cards detailing injuries to victims of a building collapse, as part of a mass casualty training exercise at the McCook Municipal Center. (Bruce Baker/McCook Gazette)

"The intent is to take a chaotic event and organize it," said training consultant Ronald Richards. Richards said the training focused on what to do when the community's ability to treat the injured was overwhelmed.

The group exercise simulated a building collapse while 30 office workers were inside and 20 people were waiting out front at a bus stop. The cause was believed to be related to four contractors who were working on the building, who were also said to be missing.

Emergency responders received some instruction pertaining to patient treatment but the majority of the training focused on sorting patients by urgency and coordinating both their treatment and transport to area hospitals.

Richards said participants must think ahead and many of the most difficult hurdles involve preparing for long term issues the situation would create.

"A lot of the people involved in a crisis such as this will never touch an injured person," said Richards, explaining that coordinating portable restrooms and food for those at the site, while communicating with area hospitals to take the wounded, are among the many issues that arise.

Richards travels the nation coordinating training exercises for communities of varying sizes and he said he was impressed with what he witnessed between the various entities involved in the McCook exercise. Richards said it was uncommon for communities the size of McCook to have such an established level of communication prior to participating in the mass casualty incident exercise.

"I'm impressed with the level the community is at and their ability to work together. You don't see that a lot," said Richards, praising city, county, hospital and school staff for having such a good rapport.

Richards is a training consultant for Task Force 1 Inc., an emergency services consulting and training firm. The two day interactive exercise hosted at the McCook Municipal Center was a result of coordinated efforts by Lena Koebel, Area Account Manager for McCook Community College.