JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Multiple JBLM units and local community organizations will be involved in a disaster-driven patient reception scenario next week as part of the National Exercise Program Capstone Exercise 2014, a complex emergency preparedness exercise facilitated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The Alaska Shield 2014 exercise, sponsored by the state of Alaska to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake, will provide the central scenario elements for the Capstone Exercise 2014 to include significant damage and injuries from both the quake and the tsunami it triggers.
Simulated patients from the Alaskan disaster zone will be flown into JBLM on multiple C-130 Hercules aircraft where, as part of the National Disaster Medical System, Madigan Army Medical Center will receive, triage, track and facilitate transporting them to local hospitals.
Community partners from Franciscan Health System, MultiCare Health System, Western State Hospital, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Pierce County Department of Emergency Management and the Northwest Healthcare Response Network, among others, will all be participating. The exercise will also allow Madigan, as a Federal Coordinating Center, to revalidate McChord Field as its primary patient reception area, a requirement every three years.
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