Boy Scout ‘victims’ help Galichia staff with emergency training

Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Karnes was a little breathless as he lay on a bed in Galichia Heart Hospital’s emergency room. He kept his arms straight at his sides and refused to speak much above a whisper.

The Boy Scout said that on a typical weekend morning, he’s usually home snoozing on the couch. But on this Saturday, he volunteered to be Basha, a 13-year-old schoolgirl with a weak pulse and gunshot wound to her right arm.

“I’m trying to make this as real as possible,” Mitchell said with a grin as nurses bustled at beds around him. Other characters played by Andover’s Boy Scout Troop 533 required more immediate care.

“I know this is just a drill, but I want to make it as real as possible for the staff,” he said.

“I want to make sure these people know what to do during a mass school shooting.”

Galichia Heart Hospital, with the help of local Boy Scouts, ran a training drill in its emergency room from about 10 a.m. to noon Saturday to help prepare staff members for a mass casualty school shooting, should one ever happen locally.

As part of the training, the hospital at 2610 N. Woodlawn completed mock evaluations, paperwork and treatment for about 30 “victims,” who suffered injuries ranging from a simple bee sting to fatal gunshot wounds.

“We’ve done a lot of tabletop drills, so we wanted to do an actual hands-on drill. It’s been a couple of years since we’ve done that,” said Laura Stofferson, the hospital’s associate chief nursing officer. The training, she said, gives hospital workers needed hands-on experience and practice at multitasking in an emergency room “in case a real disaster might happen in our community.”

The hospital hopes to conduct similar mock scenarios every six to 12 months, Stofferson said. About 30 staff members participated.

“These trainings keep us up to date. They keep us focused and sharp,” said Susan Burchill, marketing and public relations manager for Wesley Medical Center, whose campuses include Galichia Heart Hospital.

“It’s a good skill for this hospital to have,” 13-year-old Dylan Chavez said from his hospital bed. He was dressed in his Boy Scout uniform, but a patient card fastened around his neck identified him as a 50-year-old man who was bleeding after being grazed by a bullet.

“If they can do this, they can do real-life sorts of things.”

Despite a sense of urgency teeming through the ER during Saturday’s training, the boys and staff members managed breaks for laughs and smiles.

Eleven-year-old Jesse Gathright and 12-year-old Ben Dixon lightened the mood by pretending to be zombies after learning they were among the unlucky mock victims who died from their injuries.

Fourteen-year-old Alex Masterson joked about “seeing his insides” when radiologist technician Aubre Greene positioned him for pretend X-rays.

And teens Jason Reilly and Eric Gregersen feigned annoyance over waiting too long to be seen for minor injuries.

Shawn Dixon, who helps lead Troop 533, said Saturday that in addition to helping the hospital staff members learn, the training also reminds the Scouts who volunteered their time to play shooting victims of the Boy Scouts of America’s motto: “Be prepared.”

Participating in Saturday’s drill also will help some of the Scouts earn their emergency preparedness merit badge. Others will earn community service hours.

“I think it’s really important that the boys ... and girls help take part in helping improve the community,” Shawn Dixon said.

“And it gives them a different perspective about what’s going on inside the emergency room and what else might be involved” in patient care when there is a disaster situation, he said.

This story was originally published September 6, 2014 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Boy Scout ‘victims’ help Galichia staff with emergency training."