Central Supply
Rodney Simpson
How I Heard
June 12, 2016, started with a 3:00 am phone call from my son-in-law, who is an officer with the Orlando Police Department. He wanted to let me know there was a shooting at a bar off of Michigan Street and a shooting at the 7-Eleven on Orange Avenue. Also there was a possible shooter in the hospital. “I thought you should know,” he said and hung up. I then called Central Supply at Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) to talk to my only team member on shift. When he answered the phone, I asked him how things were going and let him know there was a possible shooter in the building and to make sure his doors were locked. He told me there were many people at the supply window and everything was OK, and then he hung up. With two quick phone calls, I knew I needed to get into work. My thought was a shooting of 3 to 5 people and no major event. I put on my shorts and golf shirt, and drove to the hospital.
Synopsis
As the corporate supply manager, my responsibility is to make sure the nurses and physicians have the supplies to take care of the patients. One of those areas is the ORMC trauma room. We deliver medical supplies daily throughout the hospital and it is normally a five-hour process. On June 12th, we delivered supplies all day to all the nursing areas.
Response
I was called in for the Incident Command. I also was guiding my Central Supply team on how we needed to respond. Central Supply first shift starts at 5:00 am. This turned out to be a huge advantage, as we had a team of seven coming to work to distribute supplies. As my team was arriving in the department, they were asking what was going on, why were the streets blocked and, “Why are there so many police out there?” I told them of the shooting down the street and that we had about 20 patients and were expecting another 20. They asked, “What do you want us to do first?” I asked that all of the Emergency Department be stocked with supplies and told them, “If you can get into the trauma area, go for it, but it is really busy.” I also asked my staff to stock supplies in all the ICUs and surgical areas. Then the team started taking the supplies to the units, and I returned to Incident Command.
Lessons Learned
For the Pulse incident, the supplies that we used the most were trach tubes, chest tubes and dressings. Days after the event, we met with the ED team to see how we could improve our trauma emergency carts. The ED staff wanted to change the amount of the dressing and tubes that we stocked on the cart. We also revamped the trauma supply area in the ED so it, too, could hold more supplies. We also learned that you need plenty of staff to help and you cannot do it alone.
Conclusion
I am extremely proud of our Central Supply team and how they took care of the nurses and physicians. When the nurses and physicians needed supplies, we delivered in minutes and in large quantities. The teamwork between all departments was exceptional. This also includes our CEO who went to one of our sister hospitals to get additional supplies.
Key Takeaways
- Do not underestimate the situation that you’re going into. I expected 3 to 5 victims, and we received many times that.
- Call in back up. Everyone wanted to help on the Pulse event. I was working Incident Command and trying to guide my team in the beginning.
- Celebrate when you do a great job.