Urban Nightmare – the megagame
So we’re about to start playing the megagame Urban Nightmare, which is a political crisis management game of a zombie outbreak in Romero City. I’m playing the Deputy Chief of the Emergency Services (which is a combined paramedic and firefighter service). We’ve got 20 fire appliances and 8 emergency ambulances to service the city.
Overnight we’ve had four emergency calls for paramedics at Sin Street, Cass Tech High School, Elmwood Park & the Water-works Park. All four incidents have had their casualties taken to City General Hospital (which is the closest).
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Initial reports that Police have an outbreak of civil disorder, looks like there is a bad batch of illegal drugs. Gang violence and shootings reported.
Paramedics called for Elmwood Park & Cass Tech High School.
Fire alarms for: Mack & Delquindre; Mountvernon & Oakland; South-Eastern High School; Garfort woods; Jacksonmount; Livernois & Michigan; State Office Building; Holbrook & Oakland; Milwell; and Dearborn. Two pumps each.
Police cannot secure access to Elmwood Park for the ambulances to pick up casualties. Reported that some have already died and others are very seriously injured.
Casualties brought in earlier have been treated, 2 stable and on wards in City General, three died in ER. One casualty remaining in ER in Metro Hospital.
Traffic watch reporting significant levels of traffic moving North out of the city on routes 96, 10 & 75. Also Panic in the Sin Street area and a number of reported minor traffic incidents in the area. Also East along 94.
All earlier fire alarms either false alarms or extinguished.
Fire alarms reported: Milwell; Mountvernon & Oakland; 1st & Mack; Jacksonmount; Milwell (again); Mack & East Grand; 12th & Pingree (x2); Highland Park; and Riverside. (two pumps each)
Chief Quinlan has gone to a Gold Command meeting at Police HQ being chaired by the Mayor.
Paramedics requested in Sin street (1); Elmwood Park (2, but still no access); and Water-works Park (2). Ambulances despatched.
Paramedics report, three casualties lifted to City General, 1 DOA, other two died in ER.
At Elmwood park the paramedics watch in horror as a number of crazed drug addicts attack innocent civilians trying to flee and literally tear them limb from limb. Apparently no survivors.
Chief Quinlan has returned from the conference. The Police are struggling to cope, all their resources are deployed and they are finding it difficult to deal with the drug addicts.
The Mayor is seeking an audience with the Governor to request formal assistance from the State National Guard in dealing with the incidents.
Fire alarms: Wayne University; Cobb Field; Harding Park; West Hillayne; Branwalk; Kirkmore Cemetery; Penn Central Depot; 17th & Elm (major fire); East Hillayne; 15th & Pingree.
More casualties reported at Elmwood Park, now five seriously injured, more reported dead also. Still no access and Police stringgling to contain situation.
Crews attending fire at 15th & Pingree report being unable to access due to a Police Cordon. Have been re-routed to 17th & Elm.
Chief Quinlan has returned to Gold Command.
We’ve noticed that there is a very low survival rate amongst casualties, only 2/12 so far. Necrotech have been approached to see if they can assist with toxicology (being a biopharm company) and have been given access to the bodies in City General Hospital for testing.
Chief Quinlan reports back from Gold Command. The Mayor has been unable to see the Governor (he has refused apparently). State Police are working with local police to deal with the emergency. The State Governor wants to quarantine Romero City and close the airport. The Mayor has refused.
Mayor Antoinette Banderas called for calm in a live press conference. Asked people to remain indoors and to barricade themselves in if necessary to ensure that rioters and looters couldn’t get in to harm them.
Emergency Service HQ received a phone call from Professor Gargunza of Necrotech labs. Their early toxicology shows that there is a virus common to all victims. They are not clear what the vector is, but strongly recommend that we institute quarantine procedures.
All units are instructed to use full quarantine procedures, gloves, masks etc. City General is the designated hospital for casualties and are not to be taken anywhere else.
Police HQ is surrounded by infected people and is inaccessible.
Emergency Services HQ is moving to a standby location in St Francis’s Hospital in the NE of Romero City, away from the current (spreading) outbreak which is only one block from our current location.
Deputy Chief Harrison has been on the phone to everyone he can find to raise awareness of the current situation. He has spoken to the National Guard’s Director of Medical Services to tell him about the virus and the need for quarantine. He has also spoken to a former colleague working for the State Governor.
Widespread fires reported across the city, the infected areas are burning as is downtown. We’ve decided to focus on saving the NE portion of the city (where we are, the NG base is and the airport).
Plan is that areas East of route 96 and West of route 10 will be left to burn (there are already uncontrolled fires in that area). Infected zones will also be left in quarantine.
The Mayor has declared a state of emergency.
Emergency services have moved to 12 hour shifts, which means we have 50% extra capability.
We’ve got 12 fire crews West of route 96 to deal with fires (but we’ve had no calls at all from some of these areas and have apparently lost contact). Another 18 East of route 10 of which 6 are dedicated to moving broken down vehicles off the road to allow uninfected people to leave. The other 12 will deal with any fires that happen.
Medical crews are split similarly.
It appears that there have been similar outbreaks in at least four other towns across the state. I have made sure that we share what we know about the virus and its vectors with the other emergency service providers across the state through our usual networks.
More reports of the outbreak spreading, infected people reported at City General and St Joseph Hospital. Large areas are also reported to be empty of people, with gridlock on most of the highways leading out of the city.
1st&Mack, Mack&Gratoit, NE High School, 14th&Grand, NW High School, Central HS are all reported as having large numbers of infected.
Fire crews have been informed that the downtown area needs to be given priority to put out fires. The emergency situation needs the Police HQ and the TV station so that we can co-ordinate and get messages out. 10 crews have been tasked with putting out the fires in those areas as their prime responsibility.
Army National Guard stop fire crews on their way to the News HQ. Tell us it is too dangerous and they haven’t been able to wrest control back. They have orders to pull out, and ask us to leave too.
We’re now focussing on keep evacuation routes out of the city open and leaving it to burn.