Utah's Shriners Hospitals for Children — Salt Lake simulated the situation two days after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake to give hospital and emergency medical staff practice treating and evacuating patients, according to an article on the KSL website.
"It's to make sure that we know our strengths and weaknesses for our preparedness. And also for the Salt Lake Fire Department and our search and rescue and our EMS to know how to evacuate a special needs population … all have to be evacuated a little bit differently," said Dawn Wright, public relations director for the hospital. Shriners treats patients with orthopaedic conditions such as brittle bones.
Firefighters and emergency medical service staff took volunteer "victims" to a care site staged at Granite Technical Institute.
Though Shriners always participates in the Great Utah ShakeOut, this year was the first time the hospital has simulated an earthquake aftermath scene using "mulage," or makeup and fake injuries, debris and strobe lights to simulate a power outage, Wright said.
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