Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh conducted a mass casualty drill on Thursday to ensure its emergency department is prepared for a potential influx of patients during the upcoming NFL draft.Friday’s drill was intended to test AGH’s emergency room’s readiness, with hospital staff acting as if they were facing a real mass casualty event. “It’s not just doctors and nurses. It’s, we’ve got paramedics, we’ve got security — as you’ve probably seen it — all the entrances acting like a real, true mass casualty event. We’ve got increased custodial staff turning over beds. It’s an all-hands-on-deck process. We don’t want to just focus on just the medical care. It’s a huge team effort across the entire hospital,” said Dr. Brent Rau, medical director of the emergency department at Allegheny General Hospital. Rau is evaluating the successes and areas for improvement during the drill and is taking notes from previous host cities of the NFL draft. “We’ve talked with both the NFL, as well as other locations that they’ve had the draft — Detroit in Green Bay in particular,” he said.With just 49 days left until the draft, Rau indicated that this will likely be the last drill before the event.Looking for more news in your area | Subscribe to the WTAE YouTube Channel

PITTSBURGH —

Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh conducted a mass casualty drill on Thursday to ensure its emergency department is prepared for a potential influx of patients during the upcoming NFL draft.

Friday’s drill was intended to test AGH’s emergency room’s readiness, with hospital staff acting as if they were facing a real mass casualty event.

“It’s not just doctors and nurses. It’s, we’ve got paramedics, we’ve got security — as you’ve probably seen it — all the entrances acting like a real, true mass casualty event. We’ve got increased custodial staff turning over beds. It’s an all-hands-on-deck process. We don’t want to just focus on just the medical care. It’s a huge team effort across the entire hospital,” said Dr. Brent Rau, medical director of the emergency department at Allegheny General Hospital.

Rau is evaluating the successes and areas for improvement during the drill and is taking notes from previous host cities of the NFL draft.

“We’ve talked with both the NFL, as well as other locations that they’ve had the draft — Detroit in Green Bay in particular,” he said.

With just 49 days left until the draft, Rau indicated that this will likely be the last drill before the event.

Looking for more news in your area | Subscribe to the WTAE YouTube Channel