Eight Minnesota healthcare facilities participated in a disaster drill portraying a widespread infectious disease breakout, according to an article on the Wahpeton Daily News website.

“The main purpose of the training is to test our inter-facility communications,” said Steve Mann, facility manager and safety officer at the St. Francis Healthcare Campus in Breckenridge.

“We were stretched as far as staffing levels, and over capacity on patient load. It’s a good way to communicate between facilities, determine bed capacities and identify help that could be offered between facilities.”

In a real emergency situation involving infectious disease, planning and coordination can take place over several days. During training, the staff had to compress that process into several hours.

The importance of training helps the staff think on their feet, according to Nancy Nordick, nursing education, infection prevention and emergency preparedness coordinator at St. Francis.

“It identifies what plans we should have in place,” she said. “It’s easy when everyone is here with the expertise. But what if that person is stuck out in the country and the phone lines go down? We have to make sure the way we set up our emergency preparedness and documentation is seamless."

Read the article.