SALINAS, Calif. -- Hospital emergency responders are ready for bomb scares like the one at that happened Monday morning at Natividad Medical Center. They run drills several times a year. Monday was the real deal, and the hospital was prepared.
First it was a semi-lockdown at the Natividad Medical Center. That quickly escalated to a full lockdown and complete evacuation of the ER and the delivery floor.
"When we got further word that we needed to move even further we went ahead and relocated them into our outpatient therapy department. To be able to accommodate those patients," said Adrienne Rosenberg, hospital assistant administrator.
Rosenberg said the hospital even had a tracker for each patient during these emergencies.
"We have an electronic medical record so we are able to see where the patients are and what kind of service they need," said Rosenberg.
Rosenberg acted as the incident commander and activated a "Liaison Officer" that reached out to other local hospitals.
"So if we needed to evacuate the patients and transfer them we already knew the bed availability at the other hospitals," said Rosenberg.
Natividad was then told by police to divert any incoming ambulances or Cal-Star to other hospitals. Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital was ready. SVMH said when it got the call it entered a code triage external. All staff was alerted and quickly set up a tent outside the E. R. to assist any emergencies diverted from Natividad.
The hospital was even working with local law enforcement. Salinas police in front of Natividad communicated to the hospital's command center to determine which patients should go where. Natividad Medical Center CEO Harry Weis said he was impressed with the way things were executed.
"It was incredible to see all of these agencies working together with our leadership here at Natividad," said Wies.
