St. Vincent employees hold mock disaster drills

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Employees at St. Vincent Indianapolis and Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital spent their Monday morning preparing for mass casualty and evacuation situations.

The first drill focused on a mock mass shooting at a high school. The volunteer patients were transported to the emergency room and other departments of the hospital and wore different colored shirts depending on the severity of their injuries. Some also acted as parents.

The second drill focused on evacuations. The drill took place at both St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and St. Vincent Women’s Hospital.

Earlier this year, St. Vincent Indianapolis became a level one trauma center, meaning it can take patients with the most severe injuries. Hospital officials say the drills are important for their staff members because they can never anticipate when something like this will happen.

St. Vincent says that normal hospital operations and patient care will not be affected by the drill in any way.