Florida Emergency Teams Practice Hurrican Response
Area emergency-response teams practiced Saturday how they would react if a Category 4 hurricane hit South Florida, officials told NBC 6.
The drill, held at the University of Miamis Coral Gables campus, was designed to improve basic search and rescue procedures and to sharpen triaging, transporting and treating victims, officials said.
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In a well-orchestrated simulation, mock "residents of Coral Gables" whose homes had supposedly sustained heavy damage were transported via two shuttle buses to the University of Miami.
According to the practice scenario, large debris hit the windshield of the first bus causing the driver to stop suddenly. The second bus did not have a chance to stop in time and collided with the first. The impact caused injuries and ejected "victims" from the bus, while others were trapped.
First on the mock disaster scene was the University of Miamis new Canes Emergency Response Team (CERT), which had been activated to facilitate the arrival of "residents" -- actually UM nursing students in full make-up to appear injured. CERT volunteers had to treat and triage the victims.
The Miami-Dade County Office of Emergency Management along with Coral Gables Fire Rescue worked with CERT members to evaluate their performance and offer assistance, officials told NBC 6.
Also participating in the drill were the Miami-Dade County Fire Rescue Department, the Coral Gables Police Department, and UM's Department of Public Safety.
CERT is a new UM student-led initiative that serves as a resource for the university and its Coral Gables neighbors during emergency situations, such as a hurricane, by delivering water and disseminating information to the neighbors, university officials said.
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