ABQ Times

Imagine a 5.6 magnitude earthquake occurs without warning in the Rio Grande Rift on the Sandia-Rincon fault. Violent shaking and heavy damage are recorded along the 30-mile stretch from Algodones to Kirtland Air Force Base. As a result, 60 percent of Albuquerque is without power, several major roads have collapsed, and hundreds, if not thousands, of people are injured.

This scenario has not happened, but according to local researchers, it could. Health care leaders across the Albuquerque Metro area want to be prepared in case it ever does. Dozens of departments within The University of New Mexico Health System, including UNM Hospital, UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center (SRMC)—a campus of UNM Hospital—UNM Main Campus, and several external entities like Sandia National Laboratories, the City of Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, Kirtland Air Force Base, Presbyterian and Lovelace Health Systems participated in a region-wide emergency training exercise.

“Disaster and emergencies strike at a moment’s notice, and it is our mission that staff and leadership are ready to face any challenges and patient surges that come with that emergency or disaster,” said Robert Perry, Director of UNM Hospital Emergency Preparedness.

During the mock training exercise earlier this week, multiple mock Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs) were formed to coordinate and plan for patient care. Todd Christensen, RN, DNP served as Incident Commander for the UNM Hospital EOC in this simulated scenario. EOCs included representatives to handle finances, logistics, internal and external communications.

“EOC specifically is led by our hospital executive team that would be able to mobilize and provide all of the resources that are needed,” Christensen said. “It also opens up our ability to gather resources from not only our general area but also the state level.”

The exercise aimed to prepare teams for potential earthquakes or other emergencies requiring cross-organization collaboration across city and state levels. For example, EOCs were activated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 at organizations throughout the United States.

“We have to collaborate for all of the patients that could be affected by such a tragic incident,” Christensen added.

Robert Alunday, MD focused on preparing to take on severely injured patients during the simulation since UNM Hospital is New Mexico's only Level I Trauma Center. Care teams quickly diagnosed and treated mannequins acting as patients.

“We have had patients with trauma...and we have had chemical exposures from chemicals essentially raining down on top of people,” Alunday explained.

Meanwhile, UNM SRMC simulated reaching out to Level I Trauma Centers outside New Mexico for transferring severe cases. This helped balance patient volume between trauma centers.

The exercise also emphasized ensuring backup generators are operational and having sufficient supplies like oxygen, medication, blood supply as well as food, water and fuel. SRMC’s EOC discussed building tent cities and buying trailers for larger equipment among other logistical concerns.

Internal and external communication played an important role too. Teams identified areas for families waiting for news about loved ones and communicated with hospital staff about coming in if they could safely do so.

“Every time we do these events we just get a little bit more ready,” said Micah Sternberg BS NRP Manager & Interim Director of Emergency Services at UNM Hospital.

Sound bites and video clips of the training are available for media upon request.