By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Medical Center prepares every year for severe weather and those scenarios are something they drill for all the time.
"With today's technology, we are generally in the know 48 hours out," said Cory Griffith's, Director of Security for Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. "Representatives of the health care system go to the Emergency Operations Center. We sit in on a weather conference call with the National Weather Service and get the details. At that point, 48 hours out, we're prepping, making sure we have the correct staff on board, getting with our administrative team to know, who is on call, who is going to be in charge of our emergency operations center."
Staff monitors to deal with any threats that get close enough to the hospital to force changes to patient care.
"At 10 miles out is when we would make the determination to start moving patients," Griffith's said. "If we have a tornado 10 miles outside of Hutchinson, because that is generally when sirens will sound, they are activated by the Hutchinson Police Department, then we would be looking at moving our patients. Our general practice is to move the patients into the core of each unit, close the doors and windows and provide them protective covering, such as extra blankets, that type of thing. If we have to move patients to the storm shelter, which is our tunnel, then we begin that process."
The other thing they watch for is power interruptions.
"If we have a patient on a vent, on a pump of some type, these have battery backup," Griffith's said. "We can move them down safely to another location and relocate them, still giving the patient care we need to give them. The last time that we have moved patients to our storm shelter was May of 2010 when we had a situation of a tornado out along the east side of Reno County and then it came up toward the airport and started to track toward the hospital."
There is ample space underground for those who would need to be moved in the event of a large tornado on the ground.
"We do get about 35-40 individuals that live north of the hospital in slab pour foundation homes that will come to our tunnel for protection during severe weather," Griffith's said. "We welcome that. We have plenty of room. It's not a big deal. We do move patients' visitors and non patient care staff down there during these types of events. Otherwise, the staff caring for the patients stay with the patients on the floor until its time to move them."
There are special plugs on each level that are connected to generator power on the main floors so they can be sure power continues in the case of lightning.