Joint National Disaster Medical System exercise conducted in Salt Lake City

VA Salt Lake City Health Care System is the lead agency for NDMS’s Salt Lake City Federal Coordination Center (FCC). As one of 62 Federal Coordination Centers across the United States, Salt Lake City plays a crucial role in national disaster preparedness and response.

This exercise supports VA’s “Fourth Mission” to improve the nation’s preparedness for response to war, terrorism, national emergencies, and natural disasters. VA develops plans and takes actions to ensure continued service to Veterans while supporting national, state, and local emergency management, public health, safety, and homeland security efforts. 

“Its important to take this seriously today because we don’t know when its actually going to happen,” said Tova Reddick-Starkel, associate director for the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and incident commander for the exercise. “The way the VA does that is we develop plans and we action them to make sure that we are taking care of our Veterans, but also that we work with our community partners and respond accordingly.”

In a hangar at Roland R. Wright Air National Guard Base, triage stations were set up and people waited anxiously as a C-130 Aircraft landed with manikins as simulated patients. The patients had names, injuries, and other information that could be gathered in transport to the FCC. Once on the ground, VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and Utah Air National Guard worked with community partners to triage and distribute patients to local hospitals for further care. 

“We expect to see mistakes,” said David Pritchard, FCC coordinator and area emergency manager with the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. “We expect to see people doing the best they can, nobody’s perfect. We also expect to take those mistakes and make improvements on them. There is always room for process improvement and that is what we are here to learn today.”

The main goal of this exercise is to provide a realistic training scenario for staff and community partners. This hands-on approach ensures that the various agencies are prepared to handle real-world emergencies effectively.

“When we go through a process like this, we have inspectors on the ground to help us identify deficiencies, that's a big portion of why we do these,” said Senior Master Sgt. Julia Dandurand, emergency management superintendent with the 151st Air Refueling Wing. “It helps us practice our checklist and everything that we need to do to make sure that everything is still running smoothly.”

When the stakes are this high, agencies must come together for the mission to be a success.

“No single entity can do it alone,” said National Guard Bureau regional medical plans officer Lt. Col. Brandon Bowen. “It requires partnerships with our state, local, tribal, and federal partners because we all bring a different, unique capability to the table.

The NDMS exercise shows the importance of preparedness and coordination between agencies. As a key Federal Coordination Center, Salt Lake City's role in this nationwide system is vital for the reception and care of casualties in times of crisis. The joint efforts of the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and the Utah Air National Guard, along with their other community partners, demonstrate a strong commitment to disaster readiness and the protection of American lives.

The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System serves nearly 75,000 Veterans in the intermountain west at its main campus in Salt Lake City and 10 community clinics throughout Utah, Idaho, and Nevada.