A drill was held in Imam Abdulrahman Al Faisal Hospital - Dammam where they had received patients and injured victims in a hypothetical attack on National Guard military bases. The drill was performed to evaluate the potential services that can be provided in such crises, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the National Guard Health Affairs and the President of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences Dr. Bandar Al Knawy who pointed out the importance of executing such plans when facing similar incidents.
Dr. Al Knawy said: “The NGHA always carries out such drills and hypothetical experiments to be prepared in case they happen.” He mentioned that the National Guard studies the pros, cons and shortcomings that need to be addressed and that through previous drills they achieved continued success. He also stressed the importance of each team member knowing exactly his responsibility in such incidents.
The Regional Executive Director of the National Guard Health Affairs in the Eastern province Dr. Ahmed Alarfj assured that these experiments prepare the working team so they can cope with such incidents and not be surprised in the future because they have experienced such a realistic event. Additionally, medical skills are acquired from these training sessions. He also mentioned that this drill was carried out to study the possibility of receiving and handling even greater numbers of emergency cases.
Dr. Ahmad Al Shuaibi, the Deputy Executive Regional Director of Medical Services in the NGHA Imam Abdulrahman Alfaisal Hospital said: “The emergency department received seven injuries as a result of an attack on one of the National Guard military bases. The question we were eager to answer was how to handle such situations if they occur.”
The injuries received varied between two critical conditions, two mild conditions, and three less-than-average injuries. The medical, nursing and technical teams were highly professional in handling the conditions. Such drills are usually carried out in complete secrecy and are not disclosed in order to measure their pros and cons. This drill reached a success rate of 80% and the 20% will be dealt with in the future. Dr. Al Shuaibi pointed out that the drill was reviewed the next day and after viewing the surveillance cameras and discussing points of error, future improvements were highlighted.