At approximately 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, a tornado touched down in New Hampton causing damage to the east wing of Mercy Medical Center – THIS IS ONLY A DRILL.
    Hospital medical staff, volunteers and area emergency crews and first responders participated in a mock full-scale tornado drill to learn as much as they could about public disaster procedures.
    Hospital staff emergency crews were to simulate a scenario where a tornado touched down in New Hampton and severely damaged the in-patient wing of the hospital. Emergency crews performed a search and rescued five “victims” from the wreckage. The victims, three women, one man and a 1-year-old child, were taken to the off-site care facility in St. Joseph’s School gym.
    "It was a great drill with the aspect of communication between all of the county agencies, St. Joseph School and Mercy Medical Center. Everyone helped each other to accomplish the objectives that were set for this scenario. It was the first time that the off-site care facility was set up in any disaster drill. A lot of things went really well and there are things we need to work on. Participating in disaster drills annually prepares all agencies to provide the best care possible," said Jerry Mitchell, safety and security officer for Mercy Medical Center-New Hampton.
    If this were a real disaster, hospital public information officer for the drill Jennifer Monteith said the medical center would try to have news out to area agencies within 10 minutes. During this drill, the hospital released that “Mercy Medial Center-New Hampton and the New Hampton Clinic have cancelled all outpatient appointments and procedures. Patients needing emergency care can report to the emergency room, which was not affected by the tornado. Mercy Medical Center-New Hampton is requesting no community donations. Any additional staff and volunteers will be called in as needed and should report to the staging area in Runion Park for assignments.”
    Monteith said the hospital had to include the statement about not taking donations because although people have good intentions, during a disaster they just don’t have time to set up logistics for community donations.
    “Each year we do these drills, and each year all the agencies involved get better and better,” said Monteith.
    During the drill, Monteith said the hospital staff learned that they did a great job with security, but also needed to revise their communication equipment by adding more radios and headsets. She said they also discovered that they need more check-off charts for patient tracking.
    The hospital received a grant from the state to conduct the drill, and the hospital, emergency medical services and public health are all required to participate in an annual drill. The area Red Cross and other state agencies were on-hand to evaluate drill procedures.
    "I am very pleased with the efforts of our staff and how well everyone worked together with all of the area agencies to further prepare our community in the event of a disaster," said Jodi Geerts, Mercy Medical Center incident commander.
    Participants acting as patients involved in the disaster got into their roles.
    “I was hanging over the bed and I couldn’t breathe,” Marilyn Maas, who was acting as a 55-year-old patient with phenomenia, said. “They know their jobs.”
    “The drill went very well,” said Chickasaw County Emergency Management Director Ken Rasing.  “It was the first time we set up an alternative treatment site and it was good to see how that works.”
    He continued, “There was some concern that the gym doors were not unlocked when we got there, but that was good in one way also,  because it enlightened us in how to handle such a situation.”
    Agencies involved in the disaster drill included the New Hampton, Ionia and Fredericksburg Fire Departments, Chickasaw County Rescue Squad, Public Health, Dispatchers, Engineer and Public Information Officer, New Hampton Police, American Red Cross, Bremer and Floyd County Emergency Management, Fredericksburg Management, New Hampton Mayor Darwin Sittig and City Clerk Suellen Kolbet.
    “The County Engineer’s office was involved because if a tornado were to hit, they would be responsible to have the roads open to the hospital.  It was also the first time for our Public Information Director Cindy Messersmith of the Recorder’s office to be involved in such a situation, too, as that is a new position,” commented Rasing, “so it was good to have everyone involved.”