Participants gearing up for large scale disaster response exercise planned for later this year

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Military rescue helicopters are conducting "touch and go" simulated landings Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center's Level I Trauma Center.

Army and Navy UH-1 Huey and Blackhawk med-evac helicopters are practicing landing approaches in preparation for a large scale search and rescue and medical evacuation exercise planned for this fall, according to officials with the Scottsdale Healthcare Military Partnership.

"The flights this week help familiarize air crews with the rooftop helipad at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center as planning gears up for a disaster response exercise in October," says Jerry Zabokrtsky, director of Military Affairs and Emergency Preparedness at Scottsdale Healthcare.

The event this fall in partnership with Davis Monthan Air Force Base will exercise military rescue operations, rapid triage and treatment in the Emergency and Trauma Center at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn. Military rescue aircraft will transport simulated mass casualty victims to Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center over a two-day period.

Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center has partnered with the Armed Forces in past regional disaster response exercises, and is home to one of the nation's first community based military trauma training centers.

Earlier this year Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn debuted a 7,500 sq. ft. expansion of its Military Training Center featuring multiple simulated battlefield trauma training rooms as well as simulated hospital rooms.

In 2010 Scottsdale Healthcare became Arizona's first hospital system to join the federal Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), bolstering the community's preparedness for disasters and emergencies.

Scottsdale Healthcare's MRC unit includes medical and public health professionals and others who volunteer to help prepare for and respond to natural disasters and emergencies.

Scottsdale Healthcare's Military Partnership launched in 2004. Other hospitals and military bases have used the Scottsdale Healthcare military program as a model to prepare military physicians, nurses and medics while building a relationship that can be used in possible disaster response situations.

Scottsdale Healthcare's partnerships with the military also led to creation of the Coyote Crisis Collaborative, a regional disaster response and exercise planning team.

Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center is a Level I Trauma Center verified by the American College of Surgeons, the highest level of verification for U.S. trauma center capabilities. The hospital is able to treat the most critically injured and ill patients because a full spectrum of medical and surgical specialists are available at any time of day.

Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center serves the eastern metropolitan Phoenix area and rural Arizona.

Scottsdale Healthcare is the community-based, nonprofit parent organization of the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center and Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Healthcare Research Institute and Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation. A leader in medical innovation, talent and technology, Scottsdale Healthcare was founded in 1962 and is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, visit www.shc.org.

SOURCE Scottsdale Healthcare