[Scan-DC] I-66 Bus Wreck

[John Antonelli]

What is the frequency for Mednet?

Steve Thompson wrote:
> Just a few comments on that big bus wreck on I-66 late last week.....
>
> I was actually able to monitor virtually all of this incident, at one 
> point using two scanners (one on VSP and the other on Fairfax Fire).
>
> It left me convinced that if you really, really need to get into a 
> multiple bus wreck, Fairfax County is a great place to do it.  Talk 
> about organized!:
>
> The first I heard about it was when MedNet was alerting the 
> hospitals, which almost instantly reported their ER 
> availabilities.  Only THEN did I hear a fleet of EMS units being 
> dispatched by Fire Rescue.  That's right--the hospitals were 
> organizing before the big EMS call-out.
>
> VSP was on the scene very quickly and blocked all of the appropriate 
> ramps.  They had so many units on the scene and at the ramps that 
> there wasn't much to do for the Fairfax motor units who got there later.
>
> The rest of it worked more smoothly than most of the drills I've 
> monitored.  The patients were tagged to indicate their level of 
> injury.  A friend who is an ER nurse told me that they were also 
> tagged to show which hospital they were going to.  The hospitals were 
> told by radio what to expect, using the color codes on the tags.  An 
> ambulance bus was brought in, although I'm not sure that it was 
> used.  Multiple radio channels were used for specific functions and 
> the on-scene commander made a decision to divert some of the injured 
> to Fairfax Hospital rather than Fair Oaks, even though Fair Oaks was 
> reporting additional capacity.  He just wanted to spread the load.
>
> Spare EMS units were dispatched directly to the hospitals to assist 
> with triage.  Later, in Vienna, I spotted a "Mass Casualty Support 
> Unit" (a heavy-duty box truck) returning from the scene.  These guys 
> were ready for anything.
>
> I heard no screw-ups and no snags.  It all went by the book.  It's a 
> testimony to the professionalism of Fairfax Fire and Rescue, no doubt 
> aided by the fact that none of the injuries were serious.
>
> Steve, N4TX
>
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