Medical staff at Naval Medical Center San Diego participated in Commander, Navy Installations Command’s annual all-hazard exercise Citadel Rumble 2023 Aug 3. The exercise ensures Navy personnel’s continued ability to effectively respond to a disaster incident by simulating realistic scenarios including earthquakes, tsunamis and massive infrastructure damage. During these simulations, Navy personnel practice restoring operational capabilities, protecting and restoring infrastructure, and supporting Navy families and civil authorities.

“This exercise was the annual CNIC West Coast integrated disaster response and recovery exercise that validated and assessed (C3) capabilities, as well as evaluated the effectiveness of the Region and installation Emergency Management programs,” said Lt. Nicolas Filio, NMCSD's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Division Officer. “This opportunity allowed for NMCSD staff members to demonstrate their knowledge of evacuation protocols and use of evacuation equipment for ambulatory and/or non-ambulatory simulated patients.”



At a Medical Treatment Facility, patient safety is priority, and the safe handling of a patient is different during a time of stress and crisis.

“In order to best simulate what a real-world scenario would look like, the simulated patients required additional supportive equipment such as mechanical ventilators, oxygen tanks, IV pumps, and other medical/surgical considerations.” Explained Filio. “The patients were packaged up at their assigned wards and moved to their nearest emergency egress point using the MedSled. In order to maintain the safety of the simulated patient and transport team, the patients required four to six NMRTC staff consisting of nurses, corpsmen, respiratory therapists and physicians to move the patients.”



A common motto is to ‘train how you fight’ and NMCSD is no exception, simulating the intensity and complex aspects associated with patient transport while maintaining vital medical care in stressful environments.

“We better prepare ourselves to deal with an incident when we do these types of exercises,” said Christopher Springer, NMCSD’s head of emergency management. “Because we're in the military and we constantly have a rotation of new people, it helps get them involved and trained in what their role could be or will be during an incident.”



NMCSD's mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research. NMCSD employs more than 6,000 active duty military personnel, civilians and contractors in Southern California to provide patients with world-class care anytime, anywhere. (U.S. Navy story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Celia Martin)