On Thursday, April 7th, the WIPPTREX full scale disaster drill was held in Bossier City. The drill was developed to test the MCI response by EMS agencies in the region and to test surge capabilities at 8 area hospitals.
This exercise was attended by most of the providers in the Shreveport/Bossier area. Also in attendance and serving as evaluators were region 7 EMS/DRC Craig Edwards, Admin. DRC Karla Long Houston. Both are recent HSEEP graduates from the course held at the Southern Regional EMS conference.
The drill proved to be a valuable training experience in several ways. For the agencies involved, it was a real time evaluation of their individual capabilities. The hospitals were able to accurately evaluate their surge capacity. The evaluators came away with some new ideas and a better understanding of the dynamics of a quickly expanding event.
To view photos of the exercise visit: http://www.louisianaambulancealliance.org/Resources/Pictures/2011%20Louisianawipptrex(all).pdf
