Disaster aides to practice what they preach

When the “Big One” strikes Palo Alto, hundreds of Palo Alto residents could be bleeding and injured, others could be trapped under a collapsed building and somewhere in town a woman could have a heart attack caused by fright.

Though the promised massive earthquake has not struck the Bay Area, these and other scenarios will play out on Saturday, when Palo Alto Neighborhood Disaster Activities (PANDA) members and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will practice their skills during a citywide drill at three fire stations.

At least 60 “victims” will take part, volunteering to portray the injured, according to Barbara Cimino, emergency coordinator for the Palo Alto Fire Department’s Office of Emergency Services.

The annual half-day event provides volunteers the chance to put theory into practice, she said.

The drills will involve putting out fires, search and rescue from buildings, triage and disaster medical treatment. Most will involve live “victims,” but mannequins will be used in situations where heavy objects have crushed people, she said.

The drills will take place at Rinconada Fire Station (District 3), 799 Embarcadero Road; Mitchell Park Fire Station (District 4), 3600 Middlefield Road; and Arastradero Fire Station (District 5), 600 Arastradero Road.

Ruth Satterthwaite has participated in drills since 2003. This year, as a PANDA coordinator for district 5, she will focus on mentoring other trainees, she said.

At other drills, she posed as a heart-attack victim.

“They had to reach me in 30 minutes or I would die. (Unfortunately) I was dead by the time they got to me,” she said, adding that that’s why people practice.

Another time, Satterthwaite was trapped under a desk in a collapsed building and hit on the head. She pretended to be confused and unable to extricate herself, she said.

Taking part in the drills and becoming a PANDA has helped Satterthwaite to feel more conscious of her surrounding neighborhoods and more engaged with other residents, she said.

“If nothing else, even if you don’t know anything more than to prepare your own family, you are much less likely to panic,” she said.

Cimino said 800 people have been trained since the program began 10 years ago.

“These are a group of people who have made a commitment and became first responders to augment professional responders,” she said.

More volunteers are always needed, as PANDA members move away or become inactive, she said.

The benefits of trained neighborhood volunteers became apparent last year in one neighborhood, according to Doug Kalish, district 3 coordinator. His PANDA group was the first to be activated last year when a creek threatened to overflow due to an obstruction under a bridge.

“We set up an incident-command center and sandbag sites at the airport and Greer Park,” he said. The group was later recognized by the Palo Alto Fire Department for its contribution, he said.

“We were told that — by our residents taking on that responsibility — we freed up two or three fire trucks that would have had to check on the sandbag sites,” he said.

Monitoring the sandbag site remains an important responsibility for PANDAs, he said. “When people think of disasters around here they think of earthquakes,” but flooding in many parts of Palo Alto present a more frequent hazard, he said.

PANDAs are trained to help during storms, urban fires and pandemics. With the threat of the H1N1 virus, that training is probably timely, Kalish said.

He estimated that 300 to 400 people are active PANDAs. Last year, more than 300 people showed up at another drill day. This year, close to 100 people may train, he said.

“There is a good, solid core that comes together and they know they can count on (each other). In a disaster, lots of people will want to volunteer, but we’ve been trained; we’ve been working together. The important thing is to get training ahead of time. Without training, sometimes people who want to help can be more of a hindrance than a help,” he said.

Cimino said anyone who wants to volunteer to be a victim Saturday can show up at one of the three fire stations or sign up at http://pandaexercise.eventbrite.com.

A video of the disaster drill will be posted on Palo Alto Online on Monday, Sept. 21.

A video of the disaster drill will be posted on Palo Alto Online on Monday, Sept. 21.

A video of the disaster drill will be posted on Palo Alto Online on Monday, Sept. 21.