The Minnesota Mobile Medical Team participated in a two day training and exercise in New Brighton, Minnesota on January 17th and 18th, 2017.  The first day consisted on training about the processes we use in order to provide support to communities when there is a disaster. This training including set up of the equipment, patient tracking, charting process, incident command roles and responsibilities, communications, and working with at risk populations.  The second day put the training to a test.  The scenario was based upon a fictitious hospital being impacted by a tornado and being unable to provide services to the community. The MN MMT was deployed to provide medical care for the surrounding community.  We had over 50 patients receive care and treatment. Three of those patients were critical and required intensive care treatment and transport to neighboring hospitals. Working with the Mobile Medical team were representatives from the Minnesota Responds Behavioral Health team. They operated at Family Assistance Center and assisted with mental health issues as well as family reunification and unaccompanied minors.  Overall the experience was a success and any lessons learned will be incorporated in our next exercise or actual deployment.

If you have any staff that would be interested in joining the Mobile Medical team please do not hesitate to give them Shawn Stoens’ contact information – shawn.stoen@CentraCare.com.  The team is actively recruiting from any/all aspects of healthcare.