Police and Fire conduct mass casualty drill at GMS

By Canton Citizen

The Canton Fire and Police departments conducted a joint, simulated mass casualty incident drill at the Galvin Middle School on April 2. The scenario played out was a school bus accident with multiple patients injured. Students from Canton High School, the Galvin Middle School, Xaverian Brothers and Catholic Memorial volunteered to act as patients.

The purpose of the drill was to practice managing and mitigating a chaotic scene with multiple agencies and limited resources. Areas stressed by firefighters and police officers were establishing the incident command system and forming a unified command. Crews drilled to extricate victims, triaging their injuries to provide treatment and transport to the more seriously injured first, and organizing a staging area for additional resources, such as ambulances and manpower.

While the town’s safety workers were conducting their drill, Canton’s Emergency Management Agency was conducting its own exercise inside the Galvin Middle School cafeteria, where members set up an emergency temporary shelter. The exercise was run by Marian Pendergast, and members set up registration stations, cots and opened up a food service area. After the student volunteers were treated at the first aid station, they entered the school and acted as displaced members of the community. A certified Red Cross director was on hand to observe and offer advice and recommendations.