Preparation for a disaster

SLCC nursing student and "earthquake victim" Kelly Anderson is borne to an ambulance from St. Mark's Hospital as the hospital's staff performs a disaster drill. Staffers practiced organizing patients and transporting them to a safe location in Thursday's drill.

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Lots of make-believe bad things happened during a large disaster drill conducted by St. Mark's Hospital. Thursday morning, patients and would-be rescuers dealt with the aftermath of a powerful fictional earthquake.

The two-hour, duo-location disaster — they spilled over to Millcreek Elementary School — included a radioactive spill, evacuation of dozens of patients, a cracked MRI scanner and its devastating effect on room pressure and the people in that room, and more. Injured moms left the Women's Pavilion by Paraslides and newborns were evacuated using special transport vests.

The multi-entity drill included hospital staff, Salt Lake County Sheriff staff, Unified Fire Authority's Hazmat, Heavy Rescue and Fire Department, as well as Gold Cross Ambulance, Valley Emergency Communications Center, Amateur Radio Emergency Services and Utah Transit Authority.