Maxwell Park Neighborhood News

by Sarah Hipolito

Neighborhood Disaster Drill

It was a dark and stormy night. No, wait, it was a gray and cloudy Saturday morning when we gathered at Maxwell Park School in the Incident Command Center. A status board on the wall, sign-in sheet on the team-assignment table, and two-way radios with fresh batteries were waiting. First-aid supplies, food, safety vests, and flashlights were in their places. All was ready well, almost ready when the radio crackled to life: "There has been a severe earthquake; there is widespread damage to buildings and freeways "

The classroom held willing volunteers ready to play a part in the citywide earthquake drill. Team assignments were handed out: incident commander, assistant commander, and five teams communications, damage assessment, hazard reduction, first aid, and search and rescue. I got to be incident commander, with Tim Wilhelmz as assistant. Our job was to determine and coordinate team activities.

Alice Ross-Leon and Joe Davis were the communications team, setting out for the fire station on High Street. Their job was to maintain a link with the command center in order to report serious damage to the fire department. When we didn't get word back from them, Adelle Foley walked to the fire station to determine where the reception could be restored.

Damage-assessment teams were sent out to the neighborhood to look for damage caused by the earthquake. Bright green damage scenarios were posted on telephone poles in our target area. (Nick Stoughton braved the dark of night to post them the night before the drill.)

When a team spotted a scenario, their job was to call it in to the command center with their two-way radios so it could be posted on the status board. Damage such as "unsafe building with damaged chimney," "smell of gas from house," "house on fire four houses away," "screaming coming from the basement," "injured people in car with downed power line on the roof" were reported.

Hazard-reduction teams were sent out to specific addresses to turn off damaged utilities, clear debris, and rope off hazards. When they completed an assignment, they radioed into the command center or returned to take a rest break.

Search-and-rescue teams performed rescue operations after checking houses to see if they were safe to enter. If not, they called out to the trapped victims telling them to wait until they could be rescued.

First-aid teams were assigned to aid victims who were not trapped, transporting them to the first-aid center to have their wounds treated or stabilized.

After an hour and a half of our mock disaster activities, we gathered in the classroom to evaluate the exercises. Niviece Robinson, Mills Public Safety Operations Superintendent, and Oakland Fire Department Deputy Chief James Williams gave us feedback based on their observations.

Between professional feedback and our own experiences, we learned how we could do better next time.

Who knew that preparing for a disaster could involve so much fun?

For free disaster preparation classes, contact Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies (CORE) at core\@oaklandnet.com or 238-6351. For more information, contact the Maxwell Park Emergency Response Team (MPERT) at MPERT\@maxwellparknc.com.