Mid-Valley Hospital

Fire Season 2015

Extreme Effort From All Involved

Unpredictable winds spread fire in all directions.

MVH incident command activated

• 8/19/2015, 9:30pm, MVH incident command opened.

• 10:35-1105pm, in house evaluation for evacuation.

• Receiving field reports of fire activity.

• 8/20/2015, 8:00am met with Wayne Walker from Life Line,

• Advised staff about on the ground issues, location of

• fire and expected wind gusts.

•

MVH, Omak almost completely surrounded

Heavy smoke and falling debris became a big problem for conditions inside hospital.

Filters, filters more filters!

• MVH rented 4 big HEPA air filtering units to clean the air inside the hospital.

• These were added to the others that we already had, so between them we were able to keep the interior smoke content to a minimum.

• Intake of outside air was shut down where possible.

• All air handler filters were checked and or changed often.

After action/Hotwash - Successes

• RN staff was willing to come in and help out as was the kitchen staff, even staying late. Some had trouble getting in due to many road closures.

• The staging area for lifeline went well.• The clinical staff did a great job keeping patients calm.• 3 local Doctors came in to help out, an RN from Chelan called and

offered help if needed, 1 Doctor from the U.W. called to offer help.• Brewster, Chelan and Wenatchee hospitals called in offering to take

patients.• There were not as many burn victims as expected and not as much

increase in patient flow as expected.• Lifeline has been our “life line” and Wayne is a great source of

information.

Lessons learned…….

• We need more air scrubbers for interior spaces.• Cell phone service failed when Verizon went down, now we have both

AT&T and Verizon.• Establish a communication plan with Emergency Management for

updates and road closures, in the event we need to transport patients.• When activating incident command, it should include calling Lifeline

from the beginning.• Managers should have a short meeting every morning during an

incident to learn of any changes or decisions that have been made, so staff can stay in the loop.

• A dedicated vehicle is needed to be able to tow ACF trailer where needed when needed.