Forrest City Medical Center
recently participated in a
regional full-scale emergency
preparedness exercise designed
to simulate a major earthquake
along the New Madrid Seismic
Zone.
Held April 15, the exercise was
part of the Northeast Arkansas
Healthcare Coalition’s “This Plan
is Faultless” initiative, which
brought together healthcare
providers across the region to test
coordinated responses to a large
scale disaster scenario. The
simulation centered on a
magnitude 6.0 earthquake with
an epicenter near Marked Tree in
Poinsett County.
The scenario created
widespread challenges, including
structural
damage,
communications outages, fuel
shortages, limited access to
potable water and a surge of
patients requiring medical care.
“Forrest City Medical Center is
committed to this community
around the clock – and that
commitment matters most in
natural disasters or mass casualty
events,” said Robert Rupp, CEO
of Forrest City Medical Center.
“Exercises like this let us sharpen
our response and strengthen the
coordination that emergencies
demand.”
During the exercise, hospital
staff worked through a variety of
emergency response procedures,
including facility safety and
access,
patient
management,
surge
emergency
communications and the
activation of alternate care sites.
Teams also focused on
maintaining staffing continuity,
managing generator and utility
operations, as well as ensuring
continuity of care during
prolonged disruptions.
Participants practiced drop,
cover and hold protocols and
activated the hospital’s Incident
Command system. Staff also
simulated downtime procedures in the event electronic medical
records became unavailable and
responded to multiple emergency
scenarios throughout the drill.
“Exercises such as this one
provide opportunities for staff to
practice emergency skills in a
realistic but controlled
environment, identify gaps in
existing plans and strengthen
relationships within the
healthcare community,” Rupp
said. “We will utilize feedback
from this simulation to drive
continued improvement in the
hospital’s emergency
preparedness program.”
‘This Plan is Faultless’ simulation assesses emergency workers on large-scale scenario
