Bloomfield Township Police and Fire are always training for high risk/low frequency events. This June, Fire Department EMS Coordinator Mike Sova helped organize the annual OAKWAY Mass Casualty Incident Event at the UMW Sports Complex in Pontiac. Over two days, multiple classes and training sessions prepared OAKWAY area firefighters and paramedics to participate in a Mass Casualty Drill from dispatch to resolution. Recreating the scene of an active shooter, training included how to arrive on the scene, assess injuries and effectively get the victims to a hospital as quickly as possible.
“Unfortunately, we must no longer have the mind frame of ‘prepare for this in case it happens,’ but ‘prepare for this when it happens,’” said Sova, a thirteen year veteran of BTFD. “We trained to treat wounds by applying tourniquets and packing wounds with gauze and dressing. We also trained to set up a triage area to assess wounds and prioritize the evacuation of victims to hospitals. For this training we partnered with St. Joseph Mercy Hospital to practice transportation to a medical facility.”
Sova was proud to represent BTFD at this training and to work to better the response of OAKWAY communities in the event a tragedy such as this strikes. OAKWAY comprises the Township, Southfield, Birmingham, West Bloomfield Township, Royal Oak, Waterford Regional, Madison Heights, Rochester Hills, Farmington Hills, and Ferndale. All communities work to support and aide each other in emergencies, with over 600 firefighters representing the communities