Fire/EMS Department Participates in Mass Casualty Exercise

The Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services Department participated in a region wide mass Casualty Incident (MCI) on Wednesday April 26. today. The scenario for the drill involved a mid air collision of two aircraft during an aerial demonstration show at Andrews Air Force Base. One aircraft goes down into a spectator area at Andrews while the other aircraft goes down in Cheltenham.

The Fire/EMS Department used the grounds of the training academy on Commo Road to stage the exercise. A burning aircraft simulator was utilized as were the 27 firefighters recruits that posed as crash victims. The victims displayed various injuries through the use of make up that gave the appearance of open wounds, fractures and burn injuries.

The 27 victims were triaged and categorized based on the severity of their injuries and subsequently transported to area hospitals. The Department used the Ambulance Bus, 2 Ambulances and a van to provide transportation to the hospital. Victims were sent to Doctors Hospital, Fort Washington Hospital Center and Southern Maryland Hospital.

The incident utilized the policies established by the National Incident Management System with multiple agencies coordinating a Unified Command on-site.

The goal of the exercise was to ensure that government agencies at every level are

Prepared to take coordinated action to protect the public in the event of an actual disaster

in the National Capitol Region. This was a joint exercise conducted by the 11^th Air Wing,

Joint Base Andrews to test and evaluate the Joint Service Open House (JSOH)

Emergency Management Plan, Mass Casualty (MASCAL) response, NIMS and ICS

operations in a Unified Area Command structure.