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The Rim of the Pacific exercises, hosted by the United States this summer in the waters near Hawaii, is the world’s largest maritime war exercise. Twenty-two participating nations are now working to refine joint operations.
This year, RIMPAC has built in an enhanced Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response exercise. It marks the first time U.S. hospitals have participated in RIMPAC and is an unprecedented opportunity that offers training opportunities for hospitals statewide. Simulated casualty care operations are central to the training.
“It is a unique opportunity to practice response and recovery operations jointly with naval humanitarian assistance efforts,” said Toby L. Clairmont, director of emergency services for the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and the team commander of the Hawaii Disaster Medical Assistance Team.
Coordinated by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii (HAH) Emergency Services, hospitals participate in the disaster scenario exercises with helicopter landings, patient transport and moulage (mock injuries molded from rubber or latex). HAH Emergency Services provides emergency preparedness and operations management services to more than 115 health care coalition members throughout the state, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, home care and hospice, air and ground ambulance, blood banks and clinical laboratories. It is one of only three federally recognized model health care coalitions (along with Indianapolis and Washington, D.C.) that serve as exemplars for the rest of the nation.
The scenario: Hawaii serving as the fictional nation of “Chianti.” A magnitude-9.0 earthquake in Chile generates a massive tsunami, resulting in substantial damage to coastal infrastructure with injuries and loss of human life.
Twenty-three local hospitals on six islands are participating in either casualty or noncasualty care. Six of them are involved in helicopter operations. Twelve additional health care facilities within the state support the exercise. RIMPAC medical exercises include the establishment and operations of a joint field medical facility (Disaster Medical Assistance Team and Tripler Army Medical Center) on Ford Island, patient movement to various hospitals on Oahu and Maui by ground and air, and an array of related activities including simulated Department of Defense-produced public health messaging, activation of an alert and notification network, resupply operations and communications exercises on multiple networks.