Mass Shooting Event Drilled in Suffolk

Shooting victims streamed out of the St. Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church in East Patchogue and were directed to a triage area where they were readied for transport to local hospitals. A Suffolk Police helicopter ferried out the worst of them while personnel from 25 local emergency services and community agencies assisted under the watchful eye of officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the New York Office of Emergency Management.

File Photo

The Mass Casualty Event was a practice drill organized by South Country Ambulance Chief Gregory C. Miglino, Jr., which duplicated the scene of an actual emergency down to “victims” covered in blood from simulated wounds.

“It is imperative that in today's threat environment, emergency services train to protect our communities from a variety of scenarios,” said Miglino, who noted that the drill was the largest of its kind ever conducted in a community setting in Suffolk County.

“There are red, yellow, and green triage areas where the victims are first assembled, with red needing the most attention,” pointed out Suffolk Legislator Dominick Thorne as he observed the exercise. The chairman of the legislature’s Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness Committee, Thorne stressed the importance of conducting such drills. “Tragically, these events happen, and it’s best that we be prepared.”

Robert Chartuk

Thorne pointed to a command post set up to coordinate communications between the many agencies that would be called in for a large-scale event. “There are many assets on the scene, and everything must be controlled from a central location,” he said.

The exercise involved dozens of local fire and ambulance volunteers and emergency medical service personnel. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Long Island Community Hospital, St. Joseph the Worker RC Church, and the Suffolk Police, along with numerous fire and EMS agencies from throughout Suffolk,” Miglino said.

Volunteers recruited from the church and the surrounding community did a great job making the event seem real, Thorne noted. There was plenty of fake blood and Hollywood-style wounds. Responders were in full gear, and radios crackled as they quickly placed the victims into waiting ambulances for transport to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue, where the hospital staff also participated in the drill. Some participants, identified with red armbands indicating their severe condition, were loaded into the police helicopter and quickly transported for treatment.

Thorne said the officials overseeing the exercise will review the performance of the various entities and recommend any necessary improvements. “All in all, l think it went very well. This is exactly what an emergency response should look like,” the legislator said.

In addition to the South Country Ambulance Company, departments taking part in the drill hailed from Brookhaven, Bellport, Central Islip, Gordon Heights, Hagerman, Hauppauge, Mastic, Mastic Beach, Medford, Patchogue, and Port Jefferson.