Local hospitals hold monthly meetings to discuss how to handle an incident with mass casualties like the Las Vegas shooting.
The chief safety officer at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital, Jeff Kay, says their mass casualty plan helps them focus on what to do in the event of a large influx of patients. Part of that plan is frequent mini drills at the unit level for a variety of scenarios.
Kay says the Michigan State Police has divided the state into emergency management districts. Lansing’s district has 13 hospitals, along with first responders, long term care units, and others. Kay says questions include "what are our greatest risks, what are our opportunities to work together during any of those basic type situations, whether it's supplies that are in place from a facility standpoint and a district standpoint?"
Kay adds that beyond the local response, they discuss requesting resources from the state and federal governments if needed.
In the event of an overwhelming event like a mass shooting, Sparrow’s Jeff Kay says competition between hospitals is set aside in the interest of saving lives. “Patients,” he says, “are always first.”