Beebe exercise simulates hurricane emergency

Beebe Healthcare worked with the Delaware National Guard to stage an exercise June 8 at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, simulating an emergency event during a category 3 hurricane. 

For the exercise, Beebe nurses prepped adult and pediatric mock patients to be airlifted via Black Hawk helicopters to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in New Castle County. The helicopters touched down in an open field on UD’s Pilottown Road campus. It took only a few minutes to safely load and secure the patients before helicopters took off. Once they arrived at Nemours, the hospital staff practiced the handoff from the National Guard and setup for patient care in the facility. 

“This is the first time we’ve actually practiced with the National Guard,” said Cheryl Hopple, Beebe Healthcare’s emergency management coordinator. “There are things my staff is learning today that they didn’t know. We need to know each other’s capabilities, and this is what this exercise provides.” 

Lewes Fire Department Emergency Medical Services also participated, while a representative from Bayhealth observed.

Due to COVID, this was the first live exercise Beebe has been able to perform in more than a year and a half.

“We haven’t gotten together and done things like this because it just wasn’t safe,” Hopple said. “It feels so good to be able to get back to doing the exercises safely. It’s very important for everybody involved.” 

Previous emergency exercise scenarios involved a tornado, a cybersecurity breach and other hurricanes. 

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Erik Bagdonavicius said the real-world training is valuable for his team as well as Beebe nurses and the Lewes EMS staff. 

“You can talk about it and show slideshows all day, but until you actually hear and feel the power of the helicopter, you might not understand,” he said. “Working with a civilian partner is good for us because it’s a different mind-set. When you’re working military, you get the mission done regardless. But with civilians, obviously there’s another risk of safety that you need to incorporate. [We] work together essentially as the State of Delaware to complete the mission.”