A mass casualty incident [MCI] occurred on the campus of C.W. Post one recent rain-misty morning. A bus rolled on its side in a campus parking lot trapping a number of students inside the vehicle as well as tossing others onto the tarmac. Fortunately, it was just a training drill where local fire departments, emergency medical services and federal and county programs responded. Additionally, one local hospital became the recipient for the injured and in that way, they too, practiced their skills and tested their disaster plan.


On November 8, 2008, area ambulances responded from C.W. Post, Roslyn Rescue, Roslyn Highlands, Port Washington, Sea Cliff and the City of Glen Cove to the Brookville campus. In addition to the emergency medical services, the Roslyn Highlands and Roslyn Rescue fire departments assisted with scene safety and extrication of victims. Also participating were members from the Nassau County Department of Health’s Medical Reserve Corps as well as volunteers from FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team [CERT]. The emergency department at North Shore-LIJ at Glen Cove was the final destination for the victims of this mock drill.


In preparation for the drill, Pierce County Day Camp donated a full-sized yellow bus which was towed to the college, in advance of the drill, and turned on its side. Immediately before the incident, CERT volunteers applied moulage [injury simulation material] to numerous C.W. Post student-volunteers as well as other volunteers. The victims were given instructions as to their roles and injuries and were strategically placed at the scene to await rescue.


First on the scene were members of C.W. Post’s public safety who sent out the MCI alarm. Roslyn Rescue arrived and set up the incident command center that organized the participants and coordinated communication between the various services. A triage team then went from victim to victim to assess each of the passenger’s injuries. Victims on the bus were extricated and all of the injured were moved to a pre-hospital treatment staging area in the parking lot. Twenty-six injured victims required immediate care and were loaded onto ambulances and transported to the emergency department of North Shore-LIJ Glen Cove for continued diagnosis and treatment. After the critically injured were transported, nine victims, with non-critical injuries, were transported by van to the hospital. The scene of the disaster was cleared of all the victims within an hour.


The purpose of the drill was to simulate a mass incident in order to practice and hone skills that are necessary in a chaotic and confusing environment. This very important mock disaster would not have been possible without volunteers who organized the event, the many student volunteers who showed up to play their roles and the volunteers from the various departments and organizations that participated during the event.
Many thanks are extended to all who participated and a special thank you to C.W. Post for hosting the drill again this year. To our role-playing victims, thanks for coming out for us instead of sleeping in…we couldn’t have done it without you!


Most of the organizations that participated in this event are staffed by volunteers and are always interested in adding to their ranks. For further information about becoming a Roslyn EMT or firefighter email <a href="mailto:emsinfo@roslynrescue.org">emsinfo@roslynrescue.org</a> and next year you too can participate in the mass casualty incident.