Volusia County's emergency personnel are ramping up their preparedness for water-related incidents as temperatures rise and the summer season inches closer. Three pediatric drowning simulations were held, bringing together multiple agencies to sharpen their response skills. According to a WFTV report, a top surgeon at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children praised the exercises that included participants from Volusia County’s Beach Safety, Emergency Medical Services, Coastal divisions, as well as local fire departments, Halifax Health Medical Center of Port Orange, and the Orlando Health Air Care Team.
The detailed event took place during National Water Safety Awareness month, coinciding with a time when drownings tragically spike. Rehearsals are crucial training opportunities, designed to help emergency and medical teams work more effectively together during an actual crisis. "It is so critical to train with the people that you're going to work with in a real-life emergency. You gain familiarity, trust, coordination and then when that emergency happens, you're more efficient because in a real-life emergency, especially drownings, seconds count," Director Tammy Malphurs of Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue stated, as per My News13.
As Florida tops the charts in unintentional drowning rates among young children, these drills serve as a vital training ground. Agencies used high-fidelity mannequins for the exercise, simulating the process from rescue to resuscitation, and if needed, an airlift to the children's trauma center. According to the Hometown News Volusia, each scenario featured a coordinated response that extended from the beach to the emergency room, ending at the optimal care facility for such incidents—the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.
