Central Florida hospitals, law enforcement agencies conduct mass casualty drill

Orlando Health was joined by dozens of other hospitals and first responders throughout Central Florida Thursday to prepare for a major emergency.

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Sponsored by the Central Florid Disaster Medical Coalition, 60 Central Florida hospitals, along with nine emergency management offices, EMS agencies, and even schools, participated in the full-scale mass casualty preparedness exercise.

Including more than 1,700 student volunteers wearing makeup simulating injuries and acting as victims, the exercise was meant to prepare local hospitals, medical professionals, emergency response personnel, and law enforcement to respond to a ”catastrophic” incident, should one occur in Central Florida.

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The drill took place at hospitals in Brevard, Indian River, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Martin, and St. Lucie Counties between 8 a.m. and noon Thursday.

The Seminole County Office of Emergency Management also activated their Emergency Operations Center during the exercise.

The Florida Department of Transportation, Lynx, and Seminole County Public Schools were also present to practice “real-time” response with the participating hospitals.

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“This is the closest we get to the real thing,” Assistant Vice President of Emergency Management for Orlando Health and CFDMC Board Vice Chair Eric Alberts said about the drill. “We have to make it count.”

The CFDMC is a non-profit organization with the stated goal of creating and sustaining a “resilient community with a common purpose and voice, protecting and saving lives during disasters of all types and sizes.”

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