Philadelphia, PA –   Thomas Jefferson University Hospital/Methodist Division conducted their annual City-Wide Disaster Drill today.  Hospitals must be prepared to respond to natural and manmade mass casualty incidents that may cause sudden demands on services.  Sixty (60) Philadelphia Job Corps Life Science Institute, students including staff volunteered as victims in the script guided disaster drill helping to make the experience very real.  Today’s disaster drill centered on events that took place in Mumbai in 2008.  The safety and clinical command center were in full swing, communicating with designated hospital personnel to keep everyone updated on patient flow and the drill process; volunteers had designated times to enter into the mock emergency setting and testing for aspects of hospital response.  Meanwhile, staff not participating in the drill worked on patients with real-life emergencies.   Methodist Hospital had over 100 volunteer victims portraying casualties that run the gambit from heart attack victims to blast and gunshot victims. This drill helps the hospital prepare for any actual disaster that may impact the US in the future.  “This drill process makes it possible to evaluate hospital techniques using a variety of hospital training modules where necessary. The value of this approach is to identify specific weaknesses for improvement and to promote continuing efforts to strengthen hospital disaster preparedness,” says Charles P. Payne RN, BSN, Director, Environmental Health and Safety Emergency Management at TJUH/Methodist. Other volunteers included, Philadelphia Police Explores Club, Mastery Charter High school and Prep Charter High school. In addition over 40 hospitals, Philadelphia EMS and office of emergency management, government agencies as well as other healthcare entities actively participated in this years drill.