Blackhawk lands at CHOG for emergency drill

If you were near the Children’s Hospital of Georgia Wednesday morning, you might have heard a lot of noise outside of the medical center. That was due to a Blackhawk landing on the hospital’s helipad as part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Vigilant Guard Exercise that involved more than 8,000 personnel from Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and South Carolina.

As the regional coordinating hospital, Augusta University joined emergency personnel throughout Augusta to participate in a mock scenario involving a hurricane that resulted in the flooding of Downtown Augusta which impacts the city’s water pumping system leaving the hospital in need of potable water.

The university and local emergency response officials used this emergency response exercise to evaluate the medical center’s ability to support an influx of patients during a natural disaster and enhance emergency response and cooperation among area emergency personnel.

The training took place on the Health Sciences campus near the Emergency Department and on the Children’s Hospital of Georgia helipad.