Inland Empire Community Newspapers • May 10, 2012 • Page A19

American Red Cross conducts major disaster evaluation drill

By Ricardo Tomboc

The American Red CrossDesert to the Sea region;consisting of three coun-

ties (San Bernardino, Riverside,and Orange Counties) had a majordisaster table top evaluation exer-cise that took place last Saturday,May 5. The "table top evaluationexercise" involved only the RedCrosschapters and their leadership.The purpose of the exercise was toevaluate the current response plansand capabilities of the region.The scenario was a 7.8 magni-

tude earthquake that occurred inthe Coachella Valley on the SanAndreas Fault Zone, and a separate6.9 earthquake occurring on theNewport-Inglewood Fault zone. In this scenario, the cities of

Fontana, Rialto, and SanBernardino had 115,000 peopledisplaced (including 65,000 fromSan Bernardino alone), 5 fatalitiesreported, and several evacuationcenters activated. The I-215 and the I-91 freeways

were shut down, and many majorroads were damaged and not pass-able. Downtown San Bernardinowas heavily damaged and roadsnot usable. Power throughout thecity was out, the water supply wascompromised, and the natural gassupply was disrupted. The areawas declared a "State of Emer-gency" by the Governor. Thecity's mayor declared an emer-gency curfew. Every few minutesthe scenario changed, and contin-gencies altered plans, and the abil-ity to moralize shelters andpersonnel.After a short briefing via a tele-

phonic conference call involvingall three counties, over 25 SanBernardino Red Cross disaster vol-unteers got right to work. TheEmergency Operations Center(EOC) quickly turned into chaosas disaster workers strived to man-age the emergency.April Wing, the Emergency Serv-

ices Manager for the SanBernardino Chapter of the RedCross, was assigned the role of"Job Director", and MartaGastelum Chapter Duty Officer (aDisaster Volunteer) was assignedthe responsibility of OperationsManager.

Between the two, they directedthe operations and the flow of in-formation, following establishedguidelines, protocols, and proce-dures; that didn't always match upwith the circumstances. Aprilstated that "the drill was an exer-cise for the evaluation and assess-ment of the chapter's ability toreact, and to provide the adequatestaffing necessary to respond to amajor disaster". This table top ex-ercise was successful in that itgave newer volunteer workers ataste of a real life situation. Marta Gastelum is an accountant

in real life and has been an Amer-ican Red Cross volunteer for over11 years. Marta actually functionsin many capacities in the chapter,as many of the volunteers do.Marta stated that "the disaster ex-ercise was an opportunity to cross-train many of the volunteers inpositions they would not have nor-mally been in. “The exercisetested what we already knew, andhelped us learn and improve on thethings that we didn't know," shesaid.Towards the end of the exercise

several "Mega Shelters" were setup throughout the county. Foodand emergency services werebeing delivered. Several sponta-neous evacuation sites were form-ing in parks, churches, and in largeopen areas. Several hundred peo-ple have already set up tents. The scenario kept on going

through various phases. Disasterworkers labored to maintain astructured plan to provide shelter,water, food, and other basic needsto the communities. During theexercise, there were several ob-servers, controllers, and evaluatorsmonitoring the activity. After the exercise, all those in-

volved participated in a debriefingand a self evaluation. A real life scenario for San

Bernardino is to expect a 7.8 mag-nitude earthquake with shaking forabout three minutes, and for theground to raise about twenty feetup and to fall back down! The keyfor survival is preparation and ed-ucation. The damage expectedwould be similar to the scenario inthis exercise. Do you know what to do? How

do you contact you family mem-bers after an event? Where will

you meet after a major disaster?The cities selected in the exercisewere selected randomly, and couldhave very well have been the citiesof Highland, Rancho Cucamonga,or Loma Linda.Do you have enough food and

water to last you and your familyseven days? Do you have enoughcash on hand to sustain you whenall power is out, and credit cardsand ATM machines may not befunctioning due to power failure?Do you have enough medicationand emergency supplies to last youuntil pharmacies are open andstores are operable? Do you haveFirst Aid skills and supplies tocope with a crisis? In reality, depending upon the

severity of the event, it may takeup to seven days for emergencyservices to be restored and func-tioning, and/or for help to comefrom outside to the stricken com-munities. We can all rememberwhat happened in New Orleansafter Hurricane Katrina. The American Red Cross Inland

Empire Chapter is led by CEOYvette Ramos, who offers free"Earthquake and Disaster Pre-paredness" presentations; alongwith First Aid CPR classes. Prac-ticing preparedness will give youthe ability to stay safe, remaincalm while caring for yourself andfamily during an emergency. Pre-sentations are available for yourschool, workplace, church, neigh-borhood, homeowners association,or groups; and can be scheduledalmost anytime. The American Red Cross is a hu-

manitarian organization led byvolunteers and guided by its Con-gressional Charter and the funda-mental principles of theInternational Red Cross Move-ment, which will provide relief tovictims of disaster and help peopleprevent, prepare for, and respondto emergencies. The AmericanRed Cross receives no moniesfrom the U.S. government and ex-ists only from the generosity of theAmerican people.You can contact the American

Red Cross Inland Empire Chapterat (909) 888-1481, Monday to Fri-day 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by e-mail:info@ie-redcross.org; and sched-ule your presentation. Spanishspeaking presenters are available.

IECN PHOTO RICARDO TOMBOC

April Wing (right) is the Emergency Services Manager for theSan Bernardino Chapter of the Red Cross assigned the role of"Job Director", and Marta Gastelum (left) is a Disaster Volunteerwith an official title of Chapter Duty Officer, who was assigned theresponsibility of Operations Manager during the disaster exercise.

IECN PHOTO RICARDO TOMBOC

24 American Red Cross Volunteer Disaster Workers pose for a photograph after a deferring on amajor disaster drill that involved 115,000 displaced San Bernardino County residents that tookplace at the American Red Cross Inland Empire Chapter in San Bernardino.

The local Ad Club is host-ing a student art auction tobenefit its scholarship pro-

gram on Thursday evening, May11 at Cal State San Bernardino, 6- 9 p.m.The second annual event will be

held on campus at the Robert andFrances Fullerton Museum of Art.This year’s theme, “When Art

and Advertising Collide,” invitesstudents to create a piece of art onblank canvasses that the Ad Clubdonated to student artists aroundthe Inland Empire. The art pieceswill be auctioned at The Art Bash.The event is hosted by the Inland

Empire Chapter of the AmericanAdvertising Federation (AAF).Proceeds will benefit winning stu-

dents and the Ad Club academicscholarship program.Bidding for art pieces at the silent

auction begins at $25. Admissionfor the evening is $10 for Ad Clubmembers and $15 for the generalpublic. A wine bar and appetizersare included.“This was a very successful event

last year,” said Jon Burgess, Pres-ident of the Ad Club. “We are ex-cited to again recognize studentartists and grow our scholarshipprogram. Everyone is invited tocome out and support this worth-while event.”For more information visit

www.aaf-inlandempire.com. Orcontact Jacob Poore at CSUSB atjpoore@csusb.edu.

Ad Club plans Art Bash May 11

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