Fake blood, real stakes

“Blood” dripped on the floor of the Latah County Fairgrounds Depot on Saturday as people with bleeding head lacerations, gaping leg wounds and scraped arms limped inside.

Volunteers scrambled to treat them so they could be stable until the ambulance arrived.

“I need to apply a tourniquet,” Jason Stooks said to a young man with a bleeding leg.

Stooks is a real certified EMT. Fortunately, the “patient” he was treating was not actually injured.

A group of people volunteered to act as victims in an emergency simulation so that people like Stooks can be prepared in case of a real natural disaster.

Stooks is a member of the local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) that organized the simulation.

CERT is made of volunteers who are trained to assist in emergency situations when needed. There is a Latah County CERT chapter, and Kevin Owens is working on creating a Whitman County chapter.

Owens said Saturday’s event was meant to simulate the aftermath of a severe windstorm. The situation was that 70-mph winds have blown down trees, caused car wrecks and knocked out the power, he said.

First responders have not arrived on scene yet, so it is up to CERT to create a triage center for patients to be treated. Once they were treated, patients rested on cots provided by the Red Cross until the ambulances arrived.

The “victims” were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who volunteered to be actors in the simulation. Fake wounds and blood were applied to their heads, arms, legs and chests.

CERT volunteers wearing hard hats and green safety vests applied bandages and splints while asking the patients questions.

“Do you know what day of the week it is,” Stooks asked a patient with a head injury.

Members of HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response brought three trained dogs to provide comfort and emotional support to the patients.

At one point, Owens turned off the lights to simulate a power outage. Mark Thomas, a Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories employee and CERT member, was in charge of restoring the power.

Owens said the simulation was meant to ensure CERT volunteers know their roles. For example, there was an incident commander and a medical observer taking notes on how quickly people were being treated and what their vitals were.

In a real emergency, Owens said, the local first responders would take the lead as soon as they arrived, and CERT would then assist them.

After they were treated, the patients were carefully taken to the “ambulances” that arrived on scene. Then, at the end of the fake emergency, all the volunteers enjoyed sandwiches to celebrate.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.