Organizers of an emergency training session hope it will teach the public what to do when disaster strikes.
The exercise was organized by the Red Cross small-disaster response team, a group formed last year to help citizens and first responders during emergencies.
Gathered at First United Lutheran Church, attendees were split up into groups to undergo personal disaster assistance (PDA) training.
The groups each took part in a hypothetical scenario involving a house fire resulting in property damage, injuries and fatalities.
Each attendee played the role of someone involved in the fire, going through the Red Cross PDA process the same way actual disaster victims would.
“One of the things we work hard at is developing partnerships with the communities in which we cover,” said Red Cross community coordinator and event organizer Bev Erickson.
Several members from the Flin Flon and Cranberry Portage fire departments took part in the exercise along with volunteers.
“We felt one of the best ways for the fire department to get a good picture of what we do is to have them here and be our beneficiaries for a mock exercise,” said Erickson. “It may answer a lot of questions for them and for us. It gives us an opportunity to meet some of the guys from the fire department so we know each other if we work together.”
Erickson said the Red Cross provides an important service to the community, especially in times of crisis.
“We have trained volunteers who are on call 24-7 and we have supplies,” she said. “We’re not madly scrambling to find a blanket or a hygiene kit. We have it, we can go and we can help meet the needs of whoever needs it.”
