SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) It was just a drill, just a drill, with a simulated Avera Health helicopter crash in high wind at Sanford USD Medical Center in central Sioux Falls Tuesday morning.
A van with mannequins in it was used in a place of a real helicopter so emergency responders would have a target to shoot for.
"We can't put a helicopter there. They're very expensive. We wouldn't be able to move one to that area, anyway. We need to keep them in service for patient care," explains Sanford Public Safety Director Greg Santa Maria.
But Santa Maria says everything was as realistic as possible with up to 200 people involved.
"As we wrote the scenario, we mocked up a heavy amount of smoke and car fires from jet fuel spills on the ramp itself and a then a heavy amount of smoke was creating patients with smoke inhalation and burning eyes."
He says no major issues were uncovered, but it's always a question of tweaking how to better communicate between the responding organizations. Santa Maria says that up to nine months of planning went into this drill that lasted only two to three hours.
Joining Sanford Health and Avera Health were Sioux Falls Police, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, Minnehaha County Emergency Management, and the South Dakota Department of Health.