EMSPROPHOTOSfrom the field
Tuscaloosa’s Druid City Hospital (DCH) is seen through the debris only a block from it’s front doors.
Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Departments and other agencies began making preparations and exe‐ cuting their well practiced plans. Personnel were alerted, Emergency Action Plans were initiated, and Trauma Plans were activated, all in anticipation of what was to come.
5:12pm
No level of early warning could have prepared the citizens of Tuscaloosa for what was about to occur. A level F4 Tornado tore a mile wide path seem‐ ingly though the middle of town. Tearing it’s way west to east, the tor‐ nado ripped through the town at 40mph, leaving a path of destruction that was unimaginable. A town of roughly 80,000 and home to the University of Alabama was crushed.
6 EMS PRO Magazine
Tuscaloosa’s only Trauma Center, Druid City Hospital (DCH) was spared, by a few hundred yards.
Trauma Time
Local first responders jumped into action immediately after the storm passed their positions. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to encounter. What could? Reacting to a tragedy of this magni‐ tude requires prior planning, excep‐ tional training, and remarkable execu‐ tion. The first patients were accessed within minutes of the storm’s passing. Paramedics and EMT’s of Northstar and Regional Paramedic Services began triage procedures in the field, and quickly began transporting patients to DCH.
5:40pm
“I met the first ambulance as it arrived,” said Andrew Lee, R.N., DCH’s Trauma Coordinator. “The rig was full of patients, including three of our first casualties. The second ambulance to arrive carried twelve victims. It contin‐ ued like that for hours.” Continued Andrew. “We have a very comprehen‐ sive Emergency Action Plan, based upon an event involving 200 casualties, we were now faced with something much larger.”
DCH processed over eight hundred (800) patients on the night of the Tornado. Quickly running out of space, patients were assessed and tagged with TriageTags according to plan. Patients were moved to the hospital’s cafeteria, cath lab, same day surgery center, and conference rooms. Some
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