Mock Disaster Drill at Michigan Tech

The national test of the Emergency Alert System yesterday was duplicated on the local level in Houghton County this morning.

ABC 10 Keweenaw Bureau reporter Rick Allen tells us about it.

If a disaster were to happen in your area, would emergency crews be ready to respond?

At the Michigan Tech campus today, a mock disaster drill was held to find out.

About 50 students were gathered in the multi–purpose room at the Student Development Complex to act as victims of a hypothetical improvised explosive device.

Director and Chief of Public Safety Dan Bennett asked me to play the role of the first media member on the scene.

My job was to film and take pictures of the carnage as first response teams arrived.

At approximately 1:15 pm, the signal was given that the bomb had gone off.

Students that were uninjured fled immediately while the rest lay screaming in agony.

About 10 minutes later, first responders arrived and went right to work on those that needed help.

They paid no heed to my presence, as they should.

I made my way out to the Emergency Operations Center where Deputy Brian Cadwell gave me a brief description of the staged situation.

The drill also tested the ability of the emergency crews to handle the crowd, like a student playing the role of someone with a loved one trapped inside the building — his brother.

The Fire Department, law enforcement and medical teams all participated in the mock disaster drill.

If the real thing were ever to happen, they will be better prepared to respond.