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Disaster ... Hurricane Preparedness ... Hurricane Season – Be Ready!

As fortunate as we have
Sun Shade Down - been over the past several reinforced walls that
remain vulnerable.
years, we must be pre- It’s difficult to pre-
A Mass Casualty Simulation at pared to endure the dict if we will have an
potential of hurricane active hurricane sea-
Broward College damage as Hurricane son this year. While
Season once again nears.
no one enjoys the dis-
Our facility preparedness cussion of probability
is inextricably inter- and statistics, chances
twined with the process are that a hurricane
and procedures which are will hit the United
familiar to all of you. States this year; and
Everyone has emergency the odds indicate that
preparedness drills, BY CHARLES A. Florida is a possible
extensive training, con- MICHELSON, prime location for
tingency plans, and spe- AIA, LEED AP that to occur.
cial equipment for emer- Throughout the
gencies. past several years we have witnessed
Leadership at all levels is required for exposed deficiencies in window instal-
the facilities themselves to continue lation, significant water penetration,
and improve the commitment of numerous unprotected openings,
Hurricane hardening. As we review our unprotected equipment, unprotected
planning and procedures, we must be tank farms and chillers, and even walls
diligent with the hardening of our incapable of protection from high
essential service facilities. Healthcare velocity missile impact (HVMI).
organizations have made great strides There is much work left to be done.
in protecting their facilities. Some As essential service buildings, our med-
buildings were hardened, energy plants ical facilities require standards of per-
upgraded, and budgets provided for the formance in a weather emergency.
Broward College employees and students and Broward County employees improvements to meet all their needs. Therefore, it is imperative that the facil-
participate in a Multi-Casualty Exercise at the Health Sciences Simulation Center Unfortunately , after several clean hurri- ities will remain functioning during
on the A. Hugh Adams Central Campus in Davie. cane seasons and ever tightening budg- and be available after a hurricane.
et constraints, many facilities have
delayed or scrapped plans for addition- For more information, contact Charles
Broward College stu- pare me for this kind of
dents, faculty and staff environment.” al hurricane hardening. Therefore, A. Michelson, AIA, LEED AP , President,
joined local anesthesia, For the next hour- there are still medical facilities with par- Saltz Michelson Architects, at
emergency medicine and and-a-half, nurses and tially hardened patient areas, exposed (954) 266-2700 or
general surgery residencies other medical person- infrastructures, non-impact, non-shut- cmichelson@saltzmichelson.com or visit
for a mass-casualty simula- nel rushed to save the tered windows and doors, and non- www.saltzmichelson.com.
tion on the A. Hugh Adams lives of as many victims
Central Campus in Davie. as possible. Despite the
They worked alongside commotion a situation
medical, fire rescue and like this could generate,
health professionals on the students kept their
drill, dubbed “Sun Shade calm and focused on
Down.” the job at hand.
The exercise was meant BY SARA VARELA Ambulances kept
to replicate the scenario of pulling up to the hospi-
a propane tank explosion that would tal, bringing victims that needed imme-
leave more than 40 “victims” made up of diate attention.
high fidelity mannequins and volun- As a student journalist, my goal was to
teers. The victims presented a vast array find out as soon as possible what was
of injuries and complications, from a happening. For the drill, I expected it to
field leg amputation to smoke inhala- be extreme chaos. However, I was
tion. Students had the opportunity to impressed by how well-trained the stu-
collaborate with first-responders from dents were. This experience was defi-
Davie Police, Broward County Fire nitely eye-opening.
Rescue Agencies, Aventura Hospital and Coyle was also beyond satisfied when
Kendall Regional, among others. In all the drill was over. “Clearly, we are learn-
more than 250 participated, nearly 100 ing how to be nurses but also how to
of which were from the College. interact with others in the hospital in
Students were anxious to start as they different situations,” he said. “I really
gathered at the Health Sciences wanted to test myself here and do the
Simulation Center, which had been best job I could. I think we all did.”
transformed into “Sunny Side Hospital.”
Nursing major Peter Coyle, 26, was Sara Varela is Student and Editor of The
excited to be a part of it all. His profes- Observer, Broward College student newspa-
sional goal is to work in the ER after per. For more information on the Health
graduation. “This is something that we Sciences program at Broward College, visit
all want to be prepared for,” said Coyle www.broward.edu/academics/programs/
before the drill started. “I could not ask healthscience/.
for a better opportunity in school to pre-

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