Mercy Drills For Hazmat Decontamination in Creve Coeur

Visitors to Mercy Hospital late last month might have noticed a crowd near the ER entrance and wondered why they saw a bunch of people in swimsuits, and others in hazmat suits reminiscent of a scene from E.T.

The activity May 24 was part of one the hospital's two annual disaster drills. Mercy Regional Manager of Emergency Management Jeff Hamilton told Patch there were three goals: get through large numbers of people effectively, do a proper survey to be able to detect nuclear contamination, and to be able to decontaminate unconscious patients who may need to be managed through the process.

"You always have to be concerned about chemical plants in your area, you always have to be worried about contamination from a transportation wreck those are actually the most common kind of things in Missouri, chlorine leaks are by far the most common," he said.

The drill, which featured staff volunteers and the cooperation of the Creve Coeur Fire Protection District, took place before the EPA announced that radioactive waste at the landfill in Bridgeton posed no threat to the public. While he said that there was such a "low probability" of an issue related to the landfill, Hamilton said the thought of nuclear contamination always has to be in the back of the minds of emergency response planners.

Before the drill was even completed, Hamilton said he already had a list of areas of tweaking and improvement.