Wasilla High students assist in emergency drill

PALMER -- At about 9:30 Wednesday morning, a bus full of Wasilla High School students was struck head-on by a railcar carrying anhydrous ammonia, a harmful liquid chemical. Some were killed immediately. Many more were grievously wounded, while yet more were doused with the caustic ammonia. The students were rushed to both Valley Hospital for decontamination and the Valley Hospital Medical Center's AIC Urgent Care unit for trauma treatment. Panicked parents querulously demanded to see their injured sons and daughters.

However, onlookers at the scene of the treatment might have been perplexed by the victims' easygoing attitude: joking and chatting during their waiting periods, laughing despite their unsightly gashes, compound fractures and multiple abrasions.

The students' levity was due to the fact that they weren't injured at all, they were simply the beneficiaries of a gruesome makeup job performed by local emergency personnel. They were taking part in an emergency drill conducted by Valley Hospital in collaboration with local law enforcement, fire and emergency medical technicians. The train collision was simulated, as was the ammonia contamination, the injuries and the parental inquiries.

"It's a great experience for the class," said Wasilla High teacher Bill Parker, whose AP Biology class served as the subjects for the drill.

Valley Hospital officials shared Parker's enthusiasm.

"We're really excited," Debra Reiss, the liaison between the hospital and the school, said. "We've never drilled with this many students before."

Valley Hospital spokeswoman Elizabeth Ripley called the drill a "huge collaborative effort" between all of the Valley's emergency personnel. Not only medical personnel and emergency medical technicians, but also the Central Mat-Su Fire Department, the Alaska State Troopers, and other emergency workers from as far away as Anchorage were involved. Johnathon Johnson from Central Mat-Su coordinated the drill.

Ripley said the main purpose of the drill was to demonstrate the Hospital Emergency Incident Command System, which had never been tested at the AIC before. HEICS is a system originally developed by the military, adopted by the Forest Service, and finally transferred to the medical community, Ripley said.

"This is a chance for us to determine what works well and what might need to be changed," Reiss said.

Ripley said that, due in part to trains carrying chemical materials on Valley railroad tracks, an incident of this kind was second only to a large-scale earthquake on the hospital's list of potential serious incidents within the Valley.

Some members of Parker's class were given artificial broken legs, fractured necks and lacerated limbs and faces, while others, spurious chemical burn victims, were instructed to cough and complain of itching arms, throats and mucous membranes upon arriving at the hospital. Others were given the role of "parents" to the fictional victims, and were taken to the front offices at Valley Hospital and the AIC unit to inquire about the status of their "children." In this manner, the hospital's handling of both the victims and their close relatives was tested.

The students playing the roles of parents were warned not to overreact, since this was a drill that was to be handled like a normal emergency in almost all respects, and the severity of their actions could inspire similar reactions from the hospital staff.

On site at Valley Hospital, workers in protective suits packaged the students' personal belongings (possibly contaminated by the imaginary ammonia) into sterilized holding bags before guiding them through a decontamination corridor to remove the nonexistent chemical. Afterward, the students moved off to a hospital treatment center for further medical attention.

When one of the Wasilla High students succumbed to the adverse effects of the contamination, an action planned for her beforehand, a team of Valley Hospital technicians quickly placed her on a stretcher and rushed her to the emergency room.

Parker described the event as a win-win situation for both his students and the hospital, noting that his class would get a first-hand look at the inner workings of a modern medical facility.

"These are students who have a great aptitude and a lot of motivation for the study of medicine," he said. "It's a great opportunity for them."

Despite the hubbub caused by the drill and the lockdown initiated by the facilities during the event, Valley Hospital and the Medical Center continued to accept their usual contingents of patients, and reserved extra rooms in case things got out of hand. As the last Wasilla High School students filed through the decontamination corridor, however, it seemed that all disasters for the day -- even simulated ones -- were under control.

Contact Daniel Spoth at daniel.spoth@frontiersman.com.