Emergency prep you can’t get in a classroom
MARQUETTE — Sawyer International Airport will be working with UP Health System and Emergency Management officials to help keep people safe.
On Saturday a full-scale exercise will be conducted at Sawyer, UP Health System- Marquette and Bell. The objective for the hospitals is to test the ability to handle a large number of critically injured patients within a short period of time. But there is more work to be done from the hospitals perspective in these types of situations.
“We’re also working closely with the airlines on family re-unification,” said Risk Management and Emergency Services Director Alyson Sundberg, “so family members of someone involved in a large scale event, we know where to put them, how we’re going to identify their own family members and be able to update them with patient conditions and where they can seek additional information because they will be very distraught at that point.”
At this time there are around sixty volunteers throughout the three locations, but more are certainly welcome. All volunteers will receive a free lunch and a unique look behind the scenes.
“Different makeup, different injuries that the emergency department staff has to figure out and treat,” continued Sundberg, “most of the time people have a really good time doing it. They get to see an inside version of that type of situation looks like.”
To volunteer, call (906) 225-7410.