Local First Responders Participate in Infectious Disease Drill

If a patient presented at a local healthcare facility with an infectious disease like ebola, how would the state and local healthcare workers and first responders handle it. That's the question local first responders tried to answer during a drill Friday morning.

The "patient" showed up at HealthReach on Dell Range friday morning with a possible infectious disease. Local first responders were called to the scene and began the process of care and transportation of a patient with an infectious disease to the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Emergency room.

Larmie County Emergency Management Director Rob Cleveland says "HealthReach has been an active participant with emergency services in training and preparing for infectious disease response and is an active part of the exercise to evaluate first responders."

Maureen Kougl, owner of HealthReach, says they became involved in the drill because they "feel they have to prepare their staff for this kind of situation in order to better serve their patients."

The "patient" was transported in a specially prepared ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center where according to the drill scenario he "died". The final part of the scenario included the coroner overseeing the proper removal of the "patient's body" from the hospital.

The "patient", Scott Logan who actually works for the State Office of Emergency medical Services, says it was "a good process to help test out the system so that if we ever do have a real situation we can see where some of the kinks are now, and fix them ahead of time."

Participating agencies included: HealthReach, Cheyenne / Laramie County Emergency Management, Cheyenne / Laramie County Health Department, Cheyenne Fire & Rescue, Regional Emergency Response Team 7, Laramie County Combined Communications Center, American Medical Response, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Laramie County Coroner, Laramie County Sheriff’s Department and the 84th Civil Support Team.