Our Partnership South Africa

The State University of New York at Downstate Medical Center (SUNY), EMEDEX International in partnership with The New York Institute forAll Hazard Preparedness (NYIAHP) conducted a web-based Long Distance Table-top drill (LDTT) designed to identify vulnerabilities in safety, security, communications, supplies, incident management, and surge capacity for a number of hospitals. The tabletop simulated a stampede and crush type disaster at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa in anticipation of 2010 FIFA World Cup. The LDTT, entitled “Western Cape-Abilities”, was conducted between May and September 2009 and encompassed nine Hospitals in the Western Cape of South Africa.

The main purpose of this exercise was to gather information about the emergency preparedness status of both the individual hospitals and the region as a whole. Players in the exercise were expected to respond to a particular stimulus on a weekly basis. The stimulus was tied to a specific scenario that would prompt Health Care Centres to integrate and practice emergency response plans and protocols specific to the stimulus. Evaluators monitored for efficient management of critical physical plants, personnel and material resources. Another goal was to test the feasibility of a long distance virtual tabletop exercise and its ability to assess emergency preparedness.

In developing the exercise objectives, important capabilities were selected for evaluation: Communication, Equipment, Major Incident Plan, Public Relations, Risk Communications, Patient Care Capacity, Surge Capacity, Safety and Security (Supplies and Fire). These activities were approved by the Exercise Design Team and trusted agents and form the basic framework for this exercise.

Landscape of Cape Town, South Africa
Landscape of Cape Town, South Africa

 

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