“You have 2.7 million people in San Antonio. Where would those people go?” Paul said. “Most of them would come right up I-10 to Kerr County and the surrounding area. Do you all have the resources to take care of them? No.”
Tornadoes and fires are far more realistic threats to Central Texas than dirty bombs, according to Gina Stewart and Stephen Lehman of the Hill Country Preppers, who helped Paul direct a three-day Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Community Emergency Response Team training class.
“You need to be prepared for any scenario,” Lehman said. “The same basic training applies to many situations.”
CERT teams are volunteer units trained across the country by police agencies, fire departments and other agencies under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Participants learn a variety of functions, including traffic direction, logistical assistance and search and rescue.
On March 6, CERT teams also helped in a mock search for 11-year-old Schertz resident Anthony Sosa, who disappeared after a fight with his mother.
Volunteers’ motivations are as varied as their backgrounds. Some recently graduated from the Kerr County Sheriff’s Academy Class, a feeder program. Others are retired and enjoy helping the community.
James Gregg, a former Wichita County deputy, began the class on the 36th anniversary of “Terrible Tuesday,” when an F4 tornado killed 58 in Texas and Oklahoma. Gregg assisted in the aftermath of that disaster in Wichita Falls, where 42 perished.
Michael and Michelle Hoskins, who operate the Lake Medina Shores Volunteer Fire Department, are training to begin a CERT chapter in Bandera County. Getting the community together there is hard, Michael Hoskins said, since many residents prefer to be isolated. Bandera County, like many in Texas, relies heavily on volunteer rescue units that are paid in bigger counties.
The training lesson looked simple: An F1 tornado touched down near the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, damaging homes and businesses in a two-block stretch around Wal-Mart Supercenter within seconds before dissipating.
Volunteers were issued a basic rescue bag containing a helmet, gloves, vest and other items paid for by anonymous donors, but customizing the bag is optional.
Duct tape, manual can openers, ponchos and other cheap items have all kinds of uses, Lehman said.
“Low tech beats high tech any day,” Lehman said. “In a disaster, life’s going to get really simple really quickly when the power grid goes down.”
A spate of disasters since the early 2000s also has taught the country another lesson, Lehman said.
“Do you have enough food and water to survive before the authorities can help?” Lehman asked. “Is three days’ supply sufficient? No. You need enough for 90 days, based on what we learned from Hurricane Katrina and some other recent disasters.”
CERT volunteers were organized into teams to rescue Tivy High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students acting as victims, without being electrocuted or injured in the process.
They met outside the investigations unit building before the field exercise. Earlier they had examined portable switch and fuse boxes in preparation for one of the most critical tasks, securing a scene.
“You can’t just run into a building,” Paul said. “You have to make sure electricity is turned off at the switch and the gas mains are cut off, otherwise you may wind up dead.”
Real-life scenarios are a nightmare for rescue personnel, and media outlets must race to get accurate information to the public.
Lyn Moore patiently recorded names before the exercise as volunteers loaded up on bandages and other supplies. Getting any information from rescuers was a problem, since those with radios ignored or forgot her calls.
“The unexpected always happens, but what is the first thing that always fails in a situation? Communications,” Paul said.
Inside the building, rescue workers converted tables and other rubble into makeshift rescue boards that couldn’t easily fit through the door.
They also searched for materials to splint broken bones, a common injury in a tornado.
“Just like in a real world emergency, you are not going to have all of the supplies that you need,” Paul said before the event. “You are going to have to make do with what you have.”
The simulation was no match for a real tornado, according to Tivy student Marcus Jones, who survived with a simulated elbow injury.
“It was not as chaotic as the real thing, not by a landslide,” Jones said.
At age 16, he and his sister, Brianna, 18, have already experienced several twisters.
As a child, Marcus Jones was trapped in a home that collapsed around him and a babysitter during one tornado. They and a babysitter hid in a basement another time when a tornado struck after their parents had left for an anniversary dinner.
After yet another storm, they and several family members were trapped in a basement with no power for several hours.
“We had to take my cousins downstairs,” Brianna Jones said. “We had just gotten five kittens, and we had to get them down there, too, and the dogs. It got quite crowded.”
Brianna Jones offered tips for surviving a real storm: Stay calm, stay indoors, and if you are trapped outside, find a ditch or other low area to lie in.
Coping with the simulation was something the volunteers had to figure out on their own: Damaged buildings are steaming hot. They are dark. And, they are loud, problems Paul said complicate actual rescue missions.
“Where’s Brittany? Find Brittany,” a “victim” screamed, playing her role to the hilt as she interfered with the work. Others perfectly simulated seriously injured patients, giving unclear information as rescuers debated whether a bulging eye or a sliced arm was more critical than broken bones.
Participants also realized a few other lessons: Teens weigh a lot more on a rescue board or table when they are moved. And those boards and tables don’t fit through the door.
No one reminded them that victims are transported feet-first, both to avoid disorienting them and slamming their head into a door jamb.
Sliding them through the door on the floor also meant hitting rescuers working in a darkened, makeshift medical center.
One boy remained calm as he was accidentally triaged by multiple teams, all of whom missed his bulging intestines. After a few minutes, he simply gave up and “died.”
No one moved him, since the site directors forgot to designate a temporary morgue.
“People die in the real world,” Paul said. “Learn to deal with it, and focus on your work.”
The final analysis?
The exercise went OK, Paul said.
Volunteers also fought normalcy bias, or the inability to gauge emerging dangers on a scene, when Paul told them to move further inside because another twister was on its way. Most simply ignored him.
That problem can prove deadly in the field, Paul said, and it can involve onlookers or potential victims.
“One example of that was 9-11, when people didn’t leave the surrounding area after both towers were hit,” Paul said. “It was obvious at that point that it was a deliberate act.”
CERT volunteers were exhausted afterward, some visibly frustrated, but Paul was pleased with the result.
“You aren’t the best team we’ve had, but you’re not the worst,” Paul said. “No one was yelling at each other or fighting.”
©2015 the Kerrville Daily Times (Kerrville, Texas). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
