A mass casualty exercise will be conducted at the C.W. Bill Young VA Medical Center on Thursday, April 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Emergency vehicles and personnel will be onsite during the exercise.
Officials say traffic flow on the medical center campus will be minimally impacted. Parking lots 24 and 14 will be closed or partially closed during the exercise.
The purpose of the exercise is to test the Bay Pines VAHCS's mass casualty plan, mass casualty support operations, Incident Command Center (ICC) and integration with community fire and emergency medical agencies.
Community agencies participating in the exercise include:
- Seminole Fire Rescue and Hazmat
- Largo Fire Department and Hazmat
- Madeira Beach Fire Department
- St. Petersburg Fire Rescue and Hazmat
- Pinellas Park Fire and Hazmat
- Palm Harbor Fire and Hazmat
- Pinellas County Dispatch
- Sunstar Ambulance
- Seminole Community Emergency Response Team
"It is very important that we are able to work cooperatively with our community partners when responding to emergencies or crisis situations," said Dean Armstrong, Emergency Manager, Bay Pines VAHCS. "While our principal mission is to deliver 5-star health care services and customer experiences to the men and women we serve, we also have humanitarian duties as a member of the community and must be ready to respond."
General questions and media inquiries about the exercise should be directed to Jason W. Dangel, Public Affairs Officer, Bay Pines VAHCS, at 727-398-6661, extension 15031, or email vhabaypublicaffairs@va.gov.
