BREMERTON, Wash. - When the unthinkable happens and a casualty become a fatality; the responsibility entrusted of hospital corpsmen to care for the sick and injured continues to extend to those deceased.
Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Emergency Preparedness office held a mass fatality exercise on Feb. 18 that immediately followed an active-shooter drill that tested the command’s Security Department response.
“We had never held an actual mass fatality exercise. But with security holding their drill, with all the safeguards in place, this was the perfect opportunity to get this in. In this scenario, we accelerated the time line and the evidence collection process. NHB corpsmen augmented the county coroner office, who are the subject matter experts with jurisdiction over such a scene,” said Terry Lerma, NHB Emergency Preparedness coordinator.
The focus for the mass fatality portion was not on the immediate aftermath with triaging wounded personnel, but on the unenviable and unavoidable consequence of potentially dealing with multiple loss of life.
Lerma attests that the process is not a job for the squeamish. It’s the aftermath of a tragedy. It’s an official crime scene. The bodies have been photographed. Injuries and wounds identified. Bullet holes in the surrounding walls marked and counted. A forensics team is on the scene, as are the coroners and the corpsmen.
Assisted by Tony Stewart, chief deputy coroner, and Aaron Davis, deputy coroner, of Kitsap County Coroner officer, and aided by NHB’s Staff Education and Training department Simulation Lab, staff corpsmen trained on how to handle and recover a fatality.
“If this was real-life, we would be undertaking this recovery process probably anywhere from eight or 10 hours to 24 hours after the actual event, which in this case, was an active shooter loose in the command,” said Stewart, a retired Navy master-at-arms chief who was previously stationed at NHB in the 1990s.
“The corpsmen would assist the coroner’s office and be deputized on the spot for the duration of providing assistance,” Lerma said.
The mass fatality protocol and associated equipment used by NHB is essentially the same as used by the Kitsap County Coroner office.
“By this time, rigor mortis has set in, which it does in humans about three or four hours after death. We’ll find that the limbs are hard to move, but we want to get the body in as close to an anatomical position – body lined up, arms at side, palms forward - as possible,” Stewart said.
The deceased bodies were then ready to be placed in a ‘post-mortem infection prevention absolute containment body bag,’ that are part of a Mass Fatality Response Kit, part of NHB’s Emergency Preparedness stockpile for such emergencies.
Under tutelage by Stewart and Davis, the corpsmen all got to practice in handling the deceased and sealing up the body bags.
“The most important detail in all this? We treat every body with as much dignity as possible. For example, we don’t walk over any body or place an item on them,” stressed Stewart.
The body bags are specifically designed bio-seal fatality remains kits. The bag comes in a two-ply roll of approximately 150 feet. The corpsmen would cut off a stretch of anywhere up to seven feet for adults and several feet for an infant, and then carefully place the deceased body, in this case a Simulation Lab mannequin, in between the two sheets of the bag and then practice sealing it with a heating iron.
“We’re not only caring for someone who has died, but we’re also securing evidence. This duty takes the utmost responsibility and that’s what our corpsmen did. After the first few times, they got completely familiar with the process and really started working together as a team. They also were innovative enough to do the process smarter and faster. With our system the same, the hands-on training is invaluable, and every one of our corpsmen did an outstanding job,” Lerma said.
According to Lerma, the hands-on training allowed every corpsman to not only take the mystery out of the process, but gain that vital preparation to fall back on if ever called to do so in an actual setting.
“We specifically picked Sailors from Nursing Services Directorate’s MS5 (Multi-Service Ward 5th Deck) and the Lab with Morgue training and experience. There are others that could also fit in, but these (corpsmen) already have a thorough understanding on the need to be respectful and as professional in the handling of a deceased body. This core nucleus team can also be broken down to help others if needed,” Lerma said.
“Training is important regardless of what type it is. It is always better to be over prepared then under. As for what I learned, not much that I didn't already know. I have been a histopathology technician for about three years now and unfortunately have dealt with many bodies,” said Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Noah Scott, a medical laboratory histopathology technician.
The Mass Fatality team staff members from MS-5 included Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class James Louck, HM3 Stephen Lattin, Hospitalman Zachary Zacharko, Hospitalman Apprentice Kylee Bartlebaugh, HA Bryan Bencomo, HA Roven Carreon, Hospitalman Recruit Sonora Green and HR Jo Reyes. From Directorate of Clinical Support Services assigned to the Laboratory/Morgue were Scott, and HN Sabrina Brooks.
“It’s such a great benefit having the expert help and professional tips from our county coroner office here. Working together with the county is huge practical experience for our corpsmen. It also gives our patient admin staff the ability to talk with them as they try to identify the remains and prepare official documentation,” said Lerma, adding that training with them on an exercise like this further enhances the inter-operability already in place between the command and local community assets that are vital if and when such a disaster strikes.
Whether personnel have been lost on the field of battle, a man-made disaster, or by natural causes, Navy Medicine staff members are getting critical training to provide all the necessary managing and handling in such a time of crisis.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2015 11:14 |
| Story ID: | 155238 |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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