A DRUNKARD went on a “stabbing spree” at the Adventist Court along Persiaran Midlands in George Town today, “slashing” 10 nursing students with a kitchen knife and then “committing suicide” at the scene.
Eight of the “victims” suffered serious injuries on the neck, abdomen, chest and hand while two others, who sustained light injuries, walked quickly to the nearby Penang Adventist Hospital (PAH) to seek treatment in the 2pm incident.
The arrival of the first two “victims” triggered a Code Green to alert the hospital staff of an emergency.
The “perpetrator” had one too many in a nearby nightclub before mayhem broke out at the apartment specially catered to PAH nursing students.
Passersby and onlookers could be forgiven to have imagined how bad the situation was as police and ambulances rushed to the site.
Seven of the “victims” were sent to PAH and three to Penang Hospital for emergency treatment.
When news of this “attack” spread like wildfire, anxious parents and relatives of the “victims” headed straight to the hospitals.
Customer service personnel at PAH tried their best to answer their questions and calmed their nerves.
This was actually the scenario of an emergency drill that was jointly conducted by both hospitals to test the general response mechanisms to a multiple casualty incident.
PAH chief operating officer Dr Thomas Tean Wing Nyin said as a hospital, they wanted to be prepared for such a disaster and collaborate with the Penang Hospital.
“The drill is to help our staff be well prepared in collaborating with Penang Hospital so that we can help the victims during an external disaster.
“Different departments such as the Emergency Department and the Nursing Department; together with doctors and various specialists such as orthopaedics and surgeons will be involved.
“Personnel from the laboratory to conduct blood test or transfusion, X-ray Department, intensive care unit and operating theatre will also be roped in.
“We also have Customers Relations Officers who will be there to help and assist anxious parents or relatives.
“We have a cafetaria to provide food and water for visitors who have to wait long hours.
“We also have the Security Department. In a disaster, many people would come to the hospital and the security personnel would have to ensure that the movements of ambulances are not hindered,” Dr Tean told reporters.
Also present were PAH senior marketing manager Caleb Lim, assistant marketing manager Abbey Ong, marketing communications executive Ann Ooi and marketing communications officer Junie Fong.
Dr Tean said this was the second time PAH had collaborated with the Penang Hospital in a drill. The first was held three years ago, on a larger scale, when there was a “bus collision” at the North South Highway.
Previous year, PAH held an internal drill to help “victims” of a landslide on Penang island.
Asked why they chose a “mass stabbing” incident this time, Dr Tean attributed it to media reports of terror attacks in France and Britain.
“As you know, incidents of a driver using his vehicle to hit pedestrians and a person running amok to stab people had happened. These are new things that we need to learn even though they have not occurred in Malaysia,” he said.
Dr Tean said if Penang Hospital is too busy to deal with many victims in emergency cases, they would contact private hospitals to help out.
Participating in the drill today is not the end of the story. PAH will conduct a post-mortem after getting a report from an observer at every station.
“We want to see what we did right, what we did wrong and what we could have done better. Every year, we have new staff and our experienced staff will guide them in the mock drill.
“After a few years, we might forget what we have learned, so it’s important we hold a drill once in three or four years,” Dr Tean said.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Alvie Cheng