Exercise drill helps prepare community for possible disasters

By Mark Rosenblum

April 7, 2009 2:32PM CST

St. Charles County, MO - United States of America (Press Release) April 7, 2009 --

Early on the cold, rainy morning of March 28, a small airplane headed for Spirit of St. Louis Airport, was brought down by severe weather in the O’Fallon Sports Park off of Highway K in O'Fallon, Missouri.

Not really, but this was the “real-time” simulated scenario for the annual St. Charles Countywide disaster exercise. Numerous emergency teams, first responders and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members were given the opportunity to practice and refine their emergency procedures. While emergency crews worked through their disaster plan, police cadets, school students and adults learned what the patients go through in these situations by playing the role of the victims.

The exercise, officially named "Operation Road Warrior", tested the county’s CERT, emergency responders and mutual aid providers in stress-filled environment in which personnel, equipment and other resources are deployed and mobilized.

St. Charles County disaster response participants include CERT members from St. Charles City, Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie, O’Fallon, St. Charles County TEEN CERT, St. Peters/Central County, Weldon Spring, and Wentzville. There were participants from other cities including Maryland Heights, Black Jack, Independence, Town & Country, Kirkwood and Eureka.

With more than 200 participants including nearly 60 volunteers playing victims, family members and news media, the county's first ever “real-time” deployment call-out exercise is being considered one of the largest full-scale drills organized among all previous exercises in the St. Louis/St. Charles metropolitan area. More than 20 organizations participated, including the O’Fallon Police and Fire Department; St. Charles County Ambulance District, other municipal fire and law enforcement agencies; Crider Center for Mental Health, St. Charles County Department of Emergency Management, St. Charles County Citizen Corps Council, as well as the regions first TEEN CERT, and other mutual aid organizations.

This exercise was an important educational tool not only for the CERT members for whom the drill was designed but also for the volunteers, victims and observers to see the significant role that local disaster relief agencies and professional first responders play in high stress scenes involving incident command, scene control, victim needs and assessments, logistics coordination, and multi-agency communication.

The CERT program helps train people to be better prepared to respond to major disaster situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site.

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