Not quite a disaster, but more than a regular drill

Long Island Community Hospital (LICH) in Brooklyn, NY, recently went through an actual incident—a fire at a nearby Marriott hotel—that amounted to an elaborate drill, considering only one patient ended up getting treated at the hospital.

However, because of the potential for many more smoke inhalation and burn victims, the event gave the hospital a chance to work through some of the theoretical pieces of its emergency response plan, says Tucker Woods, DO, the facility’s chair of emergency medicine.

“Every time we get one of these calls, we hope for the best, but prepare for the worst,” says Woods about the March 26 midday fire, which broke out on the 21st floor of the hotel.