I was contacted early in the morning of November 18th by one of Seaside Emergency Associates’ physicians about a Multiple Casualty Incident (MCI). Within minutes, I had mobilized four additional senior Seaside Emergency Associates physicians who responded and were in the Emergency Department by 7am. One of the benefits of a small, local, committed Emergency Department group is our team approach to managing our Emergency Department and our rapid response to emergencies. I’d also like to point out that many, if not all, overnight nurses stayed during this MCI to assist in patient care. Our senior nurses really stepped up and the teamwork was excellent. Our auxiliary support staff was great as well.
One mark of a good emergency department is to continue seeing non-trauma patients while a MCI is occurring. We had a high acuity day and I am happy to report we had no patient leave without being seen the morning of this incident. I’d like to point out two cases that we handled while the MCI was happening. A sick toddler was seen for respiratory distress and a rapid medical evaluation was performed by a senior Emergency Department attending. The patient was stabilized and transferred to the pediatric floor within 30 minutes. Another challenging case was an elderly patient who was severely burned, required intubation and was later transferred to the regional burn center. The professionalism, commitment and competence demonstrated by our senior Seaside Emergency Associates physicians reflects the highest traditions of the medical profession. I can’t thank everyone enough who assisted on this busy day.
Marty Ehrlich, MD
Medical Director
Emergency Departments
VCMC/Santa Paula Hospitals
3291 Loma Vista Rd, Ventura CA 93003
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