Eastside Nursing Home hosts emergency response drill

Local organizations including Illini Community Hospital, Eastside Nursing Home, Pittsfield Fire and East Pike Fire Departments, Police departments, Pike County EMS and Emergency Management Agency, and Air Evac conducted a full-scale community disaster response exercise June 13.

“The scenario was a severe weather event, a Tornado Warning for Pittsfield,” said Melissa Helkey, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Illini Community Hospital. “The drill tested response to a tornado strike at the Eastside Nursing Home. It required home staff to safely evacuate their residents from the building, with triage and treatment from on-scene emergency medical personnel. We then used volunteers for the next portion of the drill, to practice skills in transporting the seriously injured from a disaster scene to the Illini Community Hospital Emergency Room for assessment and treatment.”

Between the Pittsfield and East Pike Fire Departments, over 30 firefighters were present. Pike County EMS had three ambulances and eight workers on the scene. The entirety of the Eastside Nursing Home staff was present, responsible for getting the uninjured volunteers out of the building.

The organizations were also aided by Pittsfield High School students Alexis Hammitt and Maycee Douglas, who performed trauma stage makeup on over 10 volunteers. Volunteers were given a multitude of injuries, ranging from immediate transportation to Illini Community Hospital to ones treatable in the parking lot.

“This annual community-wide exercise helps all agencies involved identify opportunities for improvement in their emergency response preparedness to, in the end, protect the residents we all serve to the highest degree,” said Holly Jones, MSN, RN, administrator, Illini Community Hospital. “We thank our community health partners for taking part in this exercise and for all that they do each day to protect the well-being of our friends and neighbors in our communities.”

To conclude the drill, one final volunteer who was given the status of being in critical condition was lifted by Air Evac to Illini Community Hospital. Due to the lack of space available at the nursing home, the helicopter landed a few hundred feet away in front of Pikeland EMS. Eastside Nursing Home is state mandated to have an emergency response drill performed once a year.

EASTSIDE EMPLOYEE Tiffany Brooks (l), resident Brenda McCann (middle), and Dr. Ronald Johnson (right), Eastside Medical Director, simulate the procedures for treating a head injury.

JASON WHITE, Trevor Zumwalt, Jason Thomas, Jeff Bonnett, Bill Irwin, Alex Sidwell, Rob Seybold, and Chad Ruble (l-r), exit their fire trucks, walking towards the drill on June 13.

EMS WORKERS Zach Grimsley (l), Kristen Walker (front), Andrew Walker (middle), Cheyenne Allen (back), and Griffin Van Winkel (r), roll a patient from a nursing home bed to a stretcher.

Pittsfield and East Pike Fire Departments watch as the Air Evac helicopter lifts off, headed for Illini Community Hospital.

FIREFIGHTERS CHAD RUBLE (l), Dalton Kissinger (middle), Rob Seybold (back), Alex Sidwell (r) and Eastside Employees Destiny Phillips (back left) and Angie Grammer (back middle), help to transport a patient out of a room.