By Janette Turner

Earthquakes, floods, rail spills and man-made disasters, like the Boston bombings, are events that “can happen anywhere, any time,” according to Robert Mitchell, M.D. Mitchell is an Edmonds resident working with Kurt Hilt, a Snohomish County Fire District 1 firefighter and paramedic, to train emergency personnel with a “force multiplier” of standardized procedures between hospitals, emergency service responders and residents to maximize preparedness at all times. Their plan, Disaster Medicine Project (DMP), rolls out June 22 with training at Swedish/Edmonds hospital.

According to Mitchell, an example of the “force multiplier” effect is the emergency response to the tragic bombings in Boston, which “happened on a day when the East Coast city was ready. Trauma teams were already on call, and tents and physicians were pre-staged because the City of Boston often uses the marathon as a training day for disaster preparedness.”

Mitchell and Hilt’s DMP standardizes emergency procedures and coordinates service responders to be prepared every day. Mitchell said the idea arose when he and Hilt talked at an Alternate Care Facility training course last year, where both men recognized community resources needed training to work together, along with a civilian auxiliary group skilled to assist without inadvertently becoming victims and adding to a causality load.

Mitchell and Hilt recognized the key partner is hospitals, which often do not have budget and staffing for ongoing disaster training. “By standardizing training via DMP,” said Mitchell, “this relieves the institutions of the burden of finding and arranging the appropriate ongoing training and exercises to maintain readiness proficiency.” DMP focuses on four components: Training, Collaboration, Disaster Auxiliary and Advocacy, and helps hospital personnel recognize a disaster and provide “the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” This is different from the normal hospital response, which is to throw many resources at a single individual.

The larger goal is to get DMP training into all hospitals across the country, so every facility has a common approach to trauma care. That’s what happened with cardiac arrest incidents, and now caregivers follow a standardized approach that improves delivery of services. If disaster responders can apply that uniform thinking in catastrophe situations, then responder efforts will be exponentially effective.

Citizens as partners

“The single best way to help,” said firefighter Hilt, “is for individuals and organizations to be ready when our area has an event, such as an earthquake. In disasters, self-reliance reigns, so creating a plan and storing necessary supplies is a good start. The Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management’s partnership with MyStateUSA and the Emergency Services Coordinating Agency are good sources for disaster planning information. I encourage healthcare providers and healthcare organizations of all stripes to partner with us. Everyone has a role.”

According to Mitchell, “The community can urge local healthcare organizations to train and prepare for such events to remain functional in the worst of times. The public can participate by demanding school systems to include elements of disaster preparedness as part of everyday education, not just a once a year observance such as National Disaster Preparedness Day.”

When asked what the DMP group needs now, Mitchell requested an administrative volunteer to help with grants and other paperwork. If you are interested in getting involved, contact Mitchell via email. And of course make sure your household is prepared in case of disaster.