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SALT LAKE CITY — Can you ever really be prepared for an emergency? Emergency response teams from Salt Lake County hope so.
Many of us remember the shooting at Trolley Square and recently the movie theatre shooting in Colorado. Emergency response units are here hoping to train for scenarios like that.
The scenario Wednesday was a man shooting into the crowd at the stadium at the State Fair Park. As firefighters, EMTs, and police respond, they find about 50 victims.
Wednesday, they were not real victims. Some were volunteers like Allie Tripp, who played a 24-year-old victim who was trampled and has serious injuries
"To watch them and have to come up and make a decision like ‘This person is hurting and in pain, but I have to tag them yellow'..." she said.
Emergency response teams use these color codes in critical situations to help them quickly give the most medical attention to the victims with the most serious injuries.
- Keep an emergency preparedness kit somewhere reachable.
- Call 911 if necessary, and cooperate fully with public safety officials.
- Remember that during major disasters, 911 will likely be flooded with calls. Don't panic.
- If you are told to evacuate, smell smoke or gas or see fire, leave for a safe area.
- Be aware of which types of disasters are more likely to happen in your area, and prepare accordingly.
- Visit the Red Cross' website for more information on how to be prepared.
"Mass casualty incidents would in real life overwhelm our resources,as well as any kind of disaster," said Salt Lake City Fire Department Captain Mark Bednarik.
Benarik said you can't fully prepare for an emergency, but drills help.
"We probably aren't going to be prepared just to manage that with all the available resources, but we can prepare in how we do manage until we can get enough resources," he said.
Other EMTs will treat mannequins with cards that read what condition they're suffering. And even on training day, the suspect is caught and medics have to treat him, as well.
There will be a total of 15 drills this month for emergency response crews in the Salt Lake County area. The drills are funded through a federal grant and cost roughly $10,000 total for all 15.
