MCI Drill Nov 9 , 2002

Organized by - Glenn Gebhard, Swain and Bill Crubaugh, Canaseraga

Scenario- Explosion in the Main Lodge cafeteria. Kitchen, food pick up area and eating area all smoke filled and in chaos.

Injuries- Over 10 people down and trapped in the smoke filled rooms. Only one or two injured managed to escape out of the area.

Responding Agencies and Staff-
From Swain-
Ginny Illi- Hill Chief
Roger Slade- First on scene
Tom Wallin- Swain Incident Commander
Andrea Shelley- Triage Officer
Eric Scott- NSP Responder (smoke inhalation victim)
Jennifer Conine- Scribe
Judy Scott- 3rd degree burn victim
Jim Nickerson- Swain Risk Manager
Glen Gebhard- Coordinated overall drill
Joe Menichino- Represented Swain Mountain Staff
Ambulances from Canaseraga, Arkport, Dansville, maybe one other?
Fire Service from Canaseraga, Dansville, Angelica, Fremont, Nunda, Arkport
Allegany County Emergency Services- Kay Bushman

Response Summary- Our patrol responded immediately to the call from the lodge. It was unusual to find a condition where we were unable to enter the accident scene. Dense smoke filled the room and even though screams of the injured could be heard they could not be reached. One patroller attempted to enter but was quickly turned back coughing and disoriented. The Hill chief called 911 and initiated the response of the local EMS and Fire Services. Within 10 to 15 minutes the first fire equipment was on site and air mask teams were entering the building. The fire teams were able to extract all the injured within roughly a 30 minute period. This was very difficult work considering one 3 man team covered almost all the extractions in an area where visibility was limited to under 5 feet. The patrol staff treated all extracted victims as they were brought out. This was done at the doors to the lodge and the field hospital on the deck of the rental shop. EMS staff helped with this work and ambulances removed the priority cases as soon as possible after arrival on scene. Injuries included all levels of burns, smoke inhalation in all cases, a compound femur, a pregnant women, possible head injuries and one death. (Rough start for our first shift of the new season)

Feedback- Kay Bushman from the Allegany County Office of Emergency Services did a short feedback session after the drill at the Canaseraga Fire hall. She complimented all our first aid response work, absolutely no problem in that aspect of the drill. The work was completed quickly and correctly. On the other hand- we all had some problems with compliance with the MCI protocols. For example, it was difficult to tell who was leading the response once the EMS services arrived. We need to improve our formal transfer of responsibility. Another problem was that the EMS staff tended to treat the victims right at the door to the lodge once they were extricated rather than moving all out of the way. This could be a real problem in a real emergency. Finally, the patrol never assigned anyone to be the “equipment” officer. This left us short on treatment gear at times. It was an unusual circumstance to work away from the base aid room and not have the equipment on our sleds.

From my point of view as PD the patrol did a great job- Tom in the IC role, all responding patrollers, and Glen in developing the entire drill. It was great to work so closely and successfully with Canaseraga in a drill that falls out of our normal boundaries. And no one got hurt…. Can’t wait to do it again.

View a photo album of this event.