An emergency preparedness drill held on March 8 at Piedmont Fayette Hospital was executed to help emergency responders prepare for the absolute worst. In a mock scenario of a gunman in the hospital holding 30 hostages, county and municipal emergency personnel worked with Piedmont Fayette Hospital staff to lock down the hospital and protect patients and the facility itself.
The drill ended with the fictitious death of one gunman and the capture of the other two. A fake bomb blast also was included in the event.
The drill was conducted in collaboration with Fayette County Emergency Management Agency (EMA), Fayette County Fire and Emergency Services, Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, Fayetteville Fire Department, Fayetteville Police Department, Peachtree City Fire Department, Peachtree City Police Department, District 4 Public Health, Peachtree City-Falcon Field Civil Air Patrol and Fayette County Faith-based Disaster Network.
“With the increased amount of mass murders around the country, we feel that we need to be prepared,” said Piedmont Fayette Hospital Accreditation and Safety Manager Karen Woronick. “It goes back to the drawing table after this. We do a quick, hot wash and find where our weaknesses are, improve those weaknesses and then test it again.”
