Mass Casualty Drill at High School Friday

A mass casualty drill will be conducted May 2 at Nashua High School South as part of an exercise by the Greater Nashua Public Health Network.

The public health emergency functional exercise is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon. The goal is to increase the Greater Nashua medical surge capacity during a large outbreak or mass casualty event.

"Medical surge is the ability to provide adequate medical evaluation and care during the event of a significant public health emergency exceeding healthcare system capacity," according to the Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services. "In Greater Nashua, a cross-disciplined workgroup has been developing operational plans to respond in the event of significant medical surge event that overwhelms regional medical resources, such as a pandemic, biological or chemical event. These plans include opening an Alternate Care Site (ACS), a community-based facility that provides limited inpatient healthcare services during an emergency."

The Greater Nashua Public Health Network, in collaboration with the state Department of Health and Human Services, will use the findings from the exercise to inform emergency preparedness plans for Nashua and 12 surrounding towns, including Amherst, Hudson, Merrimack and Milford.

For more information, contact Melissa Whalen at the City of Nashua Division of Public Health and Community Services at 589-4543 or visit www.nashuanh.gov/.