Request for Participants
The University of Texas, will be hosting a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) field exercise on Thursday, October 17, 2002. The goal of the exercise is to test the ability of the University of Texas and City of Austin public safety responders (i.e., police, fire, EMS) to manage large numbers of potentially contaminated patients at the incident scene, our local hospitals’ ability to deal with large numbers of potentially contaminated patients at their respective Emergency Rooms, and the ability of our emergency management and related officials’ ability to manage the overall incident from the City/County Emergency Operations Center.
We are hoping for 300
participants to play either the part of “patients” at the incident scene, which
will be in Austin on the University of Texas campus, or at one of our area
hospitals. If you’re interested, here’s
what it entails:
1) Showing
up at University
of Texas LBJ Auditorium by 10:00 AM that Thursday morning. The LBJ Auditorium is located in the 2300
block of Red River. Free parking will
be available in the lots directly in front of the auditorium.
2) Some
of you will be moulaged (given simulated injuries) and all of you will be
briefed as to how things will work and what you’re supposed to do.
3) You’ll
need to wear clothing you don’t mind getting trashed and/or cut off, and a
bathing suit underneath (which will not be cut off). It is possible that you will go through a decontamination
procedure (i.e., getting drenched with water).
We would
appreciate you wearing loose fitting, easily removable shoes. It is recommended that jewelry not be worn
and purses/backpacks and other personal items such as cell phones and cameras,
be left in your car. Jewelry and
personal items will be removed during the decontamination process, bagged and
given to you to carry as you go through the decontamination line.
4) You’ll
either be at the incident scene or one of the hospitals, but we’ll take care of
transportation once you arrive.
5) The
exercise will end at about 7:00 PM and you should be on your way before or at
that time. Once you begin the exercise
you may not leave before you are released unless you have an emergency
situation arise. You must also remain
in your role as a patient the entire time you are involved in the exercise.
6) You
will receive a Certification of Appreciation for your involvement.
Prior to the event, you will be given an
orientation to the incident site, the type of injury or symptoms you should
simulate, and what actions are expected of you.
Before, during, and after the event,
liquids will be available to you. Lunch
will also be provided for those participating in the exercise. Restrooms will be available for your
convenience.
If you’ve never done anything
like this before, I promise you an interesting experience. An actual terrorist incident with a
radiological weapon will be devastating ‑ our goal is to be as prepared
as possible.
If you would like to
participate, please fill in the information below and return the page to me by
mail, e-mail, or fax prior to October 10th,
so we can have an accurate count. If
you have friends or family members who might wish to participate (exception:
no children younger than 13 years old), the more the merrier. Although this is not a “secret” event, we
are trying to keep the exercise date and details as private as possible -
primarily to prevent the people who’ll be responding, from discovering the
details in advance.
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY:
Name:
_____________________ Address:
________________________________________________
Age ________________
Telephone: _________________ Email:
_________________________________________________
Organization
_________________________________________
Would you be willing to be
moulaged (dressed up with a pretend wound) _____yes _____ no
How did you learn about this
exercise? _____________________________________________________
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me mpattillo@nursing.utexas.edu or
you may contact Lindy McGinnis at the City of Austin Office of Emergency
Management. She may be reached by
telephone at 512-370-8865 or by email: lindy.mcginnis@ci.austin.tx.us.
Thank you very much for your consideration.
Marilyn Pattillo, Ph.D., RN, NP
Assistant Professor in Clinical Nursing
The University of Texas at Austin
Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee Disaster Nurse Preparedness
Fax: 512 -471-3688
Campus Mail – D0100