Parrish Healthcare Team Completes Advanced Mass Casualty Emergency Response Training
TITUSVILLE, FLA. (June 24, 2025)—As a designated hospital receiving facility for Kennedy Space Center launch operations, Parrish Healthcare ensures that its facilities and teams are always ready to respond to all types of emergency events.
This is accomplished, in part, through strict and stringent emergency response protocols designed to complement the advanced care and treatment protocols followed by Parrish Healthcare’s medical teams. And, accomplished because Parrish leaders require their teams to complete regular advanced training, including intensive simulation training.
Earlier this month, Parrish Healthcare team members successfully completed a rigorous Hospital Emergency Response Training (HERT) for Mass Casualty Incidents. The training was conducted by the nationally acclaimed Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) in Anniston, Alabama.
“An event in which many people are hurt and require decontamination because of exposure to hazardous chemicals is something we hope never happens,” said George Mikitarian, Parrish Healthcare President and CEO. “But if or when it does, our Parrish staff, who we call Care Partners, are prepared to respond to protect the men, women, and children, of our community.”
This most recent 3-day intensive training included full-scale simulation of activating a community-wide response to an all-hazards mass casualty incident. In this scenario-based exercise, responders practiced functioning within the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS), from initial call-out to scene assessment, rescue, decontamination, crime scene management, hospital response and more. At the conclusion of their training, each earned a Hospital Emergency Response Training Trainer certification.
This certification places the Parrish Healthcare team at the forefront of hospital-based emergency response and reinforces our role as a trusted healthcare leader on Florida’s Space Coast.
The following Parrish Healthcare Care Partners completed the certification training: Toni Gantt, Manager of Patient Access; Niclaus Langdon, CAHSO, CHPS, Advanced Safety and Security Officer; Robert Maggio, CHSO, CHASO, CHSS, Safety and Security Lead; Beth Fields, Director of Health Information Management; and Jeremy Austin, Emergency Medical Technician within Parrish Medical Center’s Emergency Department.
“My recent HERT training at the Center for Domestic Preparedness was an exceptional experience,” said Jeremy Austin. “As the saying goes, ‘We don't rise to the occasion; we fall to our highest level of training.’ It was a true honor to acquire new skills that will significantly enhance our ability to better serve the citizens of North Brevard.”
“We are incredibly proud of our team’s continued commitment to advancing their emergency response skills on behalf of the patients and community we have the honor to serve,” added Mikitarian.
