Lower Keys Medical Center Announces Annual Hurricane Evacuation Drill

5/4/2026

This is only a drill

In collaboration with multiple national and local emergency preparedness organizations, Lower Keys Medical Center will hold an inpatient hurricane evacuation simulation on May 7, 2026, at multiple locations.

Lower Keys Medical Center sponsors a hurricane evacuation drill yearly to test preparedness for a major hurricane that would require hospitalized patients to be evacuated to a safer area of the mainland until the storm has passed. This choreographed exercise involves hospital staff, emergency management, ground and air transportation, fire rescue/EMS, law enforcement, multiple military branches, meteorologists and community health organizations. To ensure the safety and efficiency of all participants, the drill is not open to the public.

The drill begins with modeling a fictional scenario of a developing system, identifying the steps in the week and days leading up to the storm, and the communications and preparations involved through those steps. In this situation, community partners and military resources are requested through the county Emergency Operations Center following established county emergency management protocols.

The physical aspects of the drill include training by the Air National Guard to transfer volunteers portraying patients on special litters from the hospital setting into ground transport and onto the Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron aircraft, staged at NAS Key West. In an actual evacuation, the patients would then be flown to a receiving hospital out of the range of impact. The drill concludes with a meeting of all organizations to evaluate and critique interagency communications and collaboration.

Tadd Mallard, R.N., LKMC director of emergency services and emergency management chair, said, “We participate in drills throughout the year simulating various emergency scenarios. Evacuating patients who cannot be safely discharged is sometimes necessary, as in Hurricane Irma. These exercises help us and our community partners instinctively react to processes that have been hardwired. The drills also continue to strengthen our relationships which is crucial in an emergency evacuation. We successfully and safely evacuated patients during Hurricane Irma in 2017 because everyone knew their roles and executed them with familiarity and experience.”

“Being prepared is part of our commitment to the safety of our patients, community, and staff, which is our highest priority," said Drew Bigby, chief executive officer of Lower Keys Medical Center. “We are grateful to all of our national and community partners for their annual support.”

Active participants in the annual hurricane evacuation drill include the Air National Guard, NAS Boca Chica, US Coast Guard, Monroe County and City of Key West Emergency Management, Coast Guard Emergency Management, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and Trauma Star, Key West Police and Fire Departments, Monroe County Fire Rescue, National Weather Service/NOAA, E-Care Ambulance, Southernmost Medical Transport, Keys Health Ready Coalition, and the Florida Department of Health – Monroe County.

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