As part of this year’s iteration of the biennial Exercise Rim of the Pacific, local hospitals are teaming up with the military to practice responding to a large-scale humanitarian disaster.

“Disasters are always dangerous. You got to be able to adapt with it,” said Marc Moriguchi, director of Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management, a nonprofit commissioned in 2003 by the federal government, with the support of the state Department of Health, to prepare Hawaii’s hospitals for emergency and disaster response.

On Thursday HHEM and navy sailors operated out of a hastily constructed camp on Ford Island treating simulated patients and loading them into military helicopters, which brought them to various hospitals.

“This gives the hospitals practice on accepting an aircraft. And it also gives practice for us integrating with the military on putting these patients onto an aircraft,” said Moriguchi. “So it’s a great way for us to work together as far as (the) civilian hospital community, with the military.”

Several government and intergovernmental organizations — both national and international — also have been participating in RIMPAC’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief portions, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Red Cross, the World Food Program, USAID and others.

RIMPAC’s humanitarian response task force is led by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Rear Adm. Toshi Hirata. He said the Pacific is particularly prone to disasters with volcanic fault lines in the region and tropical storms. Hirata said climate change and rising seas only increase the dangers.

“We need military cooperation, but not just military cooperation,” said Hirata.

Military officials at RIMPAC said civilians and civilian-run organizations ideally would handle disaster response, but sometimes when the scale of a humanitarian crisis surpasses what they’re able to do, they have no choice but to turn to the military.

“When they can’t provide a service, that’s when they kind of come come to us with a request for assistance,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Winckler, executive officer of the 1st Naval Construction Regiment. “(Then we) go through it and figure out how best to support that particular need.”

Winckler is a member of the Navy’s construction force known as Seabees. The nickname “Seabee” comes from the acronym “CB,” from “construction battalion.” Seabees have extensive disaster response experience, both in wartime and in natural disasters. They specialize in hitting the ground quickly and rapidly building camps, facilities and other structures needed to support any sort of operation.

1st Regiment commander Capt. Marc William said that in the event of a major disaster, infrastructure is a major point of emphasis — ensuring ports stay functional and ensuring bridges and roads are usable is critical for moving aid, supplies and transporting people to safety.

“They’re really good at moving equipment and bodies, and it’s like if you can get resources from point A to point B and a lot quicker … only the military can do that,” said Moriguchi. “We have all five branches of the U.S. military here on Oahu, which you don’t find that anywhere in the country, and this is just a great resource.”

Moriguchi said RIMPAC is a unique opportunity for him and other health care professionals who often talk about what they would do in a large crisis but often don’t get the practice. For him, meeting new people and seeing what they do is the most important part of the exercise.

“Not just the policymakers, but just the guy who works the motor pool, you know: ‘I got 10 trucks I can get out there for you.’ Just meeting all these kinds of people with different things or resources and learning how it can help us here,” he said.