One of the many ways our Austin team is preparing for the opening of North Austin Campus in less than a month is making sure they know how to handle emergencies. Recently, the Organizational Resilience team put several staff members to the test with intense, multi-day decontamination and evacuation training.
“This is the first time since before the pandemic we were able to hold an in-person training, and the response was amazing,” said Chelsia Elmore, manager, Organizational Resilience. “So many people across different departments showed up to learn, and we appreciated their time and focus on emergency preparedness.”
The two-day training included both classroom and hands-on learning focused on different aspects of decontamination and evacuation, specifically:
- Identifying hazardous substances and knowing the risks associated with them
- Understanding roles and responsibilities in the Emergency Plan
- Learning about the potential outcomes of a HAZMAT event
- How to identify the need for additional resources
- When and how to notify key individuals
- Selection and use of PPE
- Ambulatory/Non-ambulatory Decontamination
The classroom training also included learning about antidotes in a terrorist attack, which chemicals we are able to treat and our mass casualty capabilities. The hands-on training included putting employees in Level C Hazmat suits in the EC, setting up the decontamination tent and even using the evacuation sled to learn how to move someone safely down the stairs.
The response to the training was positive from participants:
- “Doing this training made it very real.”
- “I learned a lot and felt like I was a part of something important…that I could make a difference.”
- “It was out of my comfort zone but made me feel empowered.”
The Organizational Resilience team will hold similar training for team members at The Woodlands Campus, West Campus and the Medical Center in the coming months.
Do you thrive on ensuring safety? Sign up to be a decontamination team volunteer – contact orgresilience@texaschildrens.com to learn more.
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