Just in case it’s ever needed, this county’s emergency services practice mock disasters from time to time. This morning it was a pretend fire at the local senior citizen’s home. I had the pleasure of volunteering as a member of the hospital board and brought along my daughter’s two dog guides, Acorn and Zona, for the experience.
The Incident Commander, Jeff Musser, was given the scoop about the ‘fire’ and relayed the information to his firefighters. The mock disaster involved a fire contained within one resident room.
The ‘residents’ were students at a medical camp who came up for the morning to act as pretend patients. Each was given a medical status, with makeup to match, and the responders had to triage them and deal with them appropriately.
Acorn (left) and Zone (right) watched all the goings on with such intense interest.
The patients were taken to the local hospital where the second stage of the mock disaster played out. Here a patient is prepared for loading into the ambulance for the short trip to the South Huron Hospital.
One of the staging areas is shown below.
Another staging area with more seriously wounded ‘patients’ who are being tended to and will be transported to the hospital.
When the mock disaster at the Villa was concluded, Acorn (left) and Zone (right) got a chance to be cuddled by firefighter Mike Hansen. They were allowed into the back of the rescue van for a good sniff of the clothing and gear which will stand them in good stead should their partners ever have need of emergency services.
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