The Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency conducted a tornado simulation training drill inside the Lake Arrowhead community on Wednesday and Saturday of last week.
The drill inside the remote community tested both first responders and the neighborhood’s Community Emergency Response Team. CERT members are local residents who have attended a course designed to help protect themselves, their family and their neighbors immediately following a disaster while waiting for first responders to arrive.
The drill on Wednesday involved approximately 100 public safety officials and CERT members. Public safety members responding to the area had to negotiate simulations ranging from blocked roads and collapsed houses, to deaths and severe injuries, along with gas leaks and other emergencies.
“As expected, Lake Arrowhead CERT members arrived on the scene prior to public safety getting there because they live in the community,” Cherokee Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker said in a statement. “CERT members got the opportunity to test the skills they had been trained on and then supported public safety upon their arrival.”
First responders from Cherokee Fire and Emergency Services, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, the Cherokee Marshal’s Office, Cherokee 911, Cherokee County Animal Control, the Cherokee County Animal Shelter and Search and Rescue responded to the drill.
The drill not only tested the response to injured persons, Animal Control officers responded to handle displaced pets. The Cherokee Marshal’s Office responded and prepared a plan to prevent unlicensed contractors that would typically be soliciting work to repair damaged homes in an area ravaged by storms.
On Saturday the drill was continued with a search and rescue exercise involving a missing adult and child. The Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Search and Rescue Team responded to search and locate the missing pair. The local CERT group continued its training response to collapsed homes and injured victims. The drill on Saturday involved approximately 90 people.
Evaluators from public safety agencies outside of Cherokee County were present both days to critique and provide feedback on the response. The training drill was an opportunity for first responders to practice responding to a large scale, multi-event emergency while also training side by side with CERT members.
“This exercise provided the opportunity for various Cherokee County public safety agencies to become more familiar with the capabilities of CERT members. In a large scale event such as this, CERT can be a real asset to first responders. More information about the Cherokee County CERT program can be found on the EMA webpage: www.cherokeega-ema.org by clicking on ‘CERT’,” said Renee Cornelison, Cherokee County EMA Director.
by Tribune Ledger News (2018, October 16)
