First responders Bjorn Stolpe and Chrystine Collison watch as medical assistant Katie Pearson helps a pretend disaster victim into an ambulance outside the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department on Aug. 16.
Emergency services members Michael Burnett, Jamie Lynn-Burke, Katie Pearson and Heather Canik check on Petersburg community members pretending to be patients during the disaster drill in the Community Gym on Aug. 16.
At the Petersburg fire station, Heather Bauscher sat waiting for an ambulance. She had a fake tourniquet on her arm, representing a lost limb.
"I've got a small amount of time before I go into shock," she said. "So as soon as we get there, I'll start a timer, and they'll have a little bit of time to figure out what's going on with me."
Bauscher was one of about a dozen Petersburg community members acting as victims in a staged mass casualty drill on Aug. 16. The drill, which was organized by Petersburg Emergency Services Director Aaron Hankins and the American Red Cross, aimed to help the borough update its emergency plans for the first time in 15 years.
Petersburg's current emergency plan calls for using the high school gym as a shelter, but the drill tested a new location. After picking up the pretend patients from the fire station, an ambulance drove them to the community center gym instead.
Hankins said the change would give the borough more direct control of the space and will help maintain a sense of normalcy.
"That was one of the recommendations from the Red Cross, [to] try and keep activity in town, as much as you can, normal," Hankins said. "The more that gets affected, the more people get stressed."
This exercise was similar to the plane crash drills Hankins leads every few years. But with this drill, Hankins took it a step further, thinking beyond just the immediate effects of a disaster. Hankins hopes to plan a system that will provide longer-term shelter and support, including things like spiritual guidance and feminine hygiene products.
The new shelter is designed using guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The setup is intended to help in all sorts of disasters, including fires, floods or landslides.
Hankins said Petersburg needs to be able to respond on its own to a disaster, at least in the beginning.
"FEMA has a saying: all disasters start local and end local," Hankins said. "Especially here, where we're on an island."
The Red Cross initially reached out to Hankins about doing the training because they haven't been to Petersburg in several decades. The day before the drill, on Aug. 15, Red Cross volunteers from Juneau and Anchorage led a classroom training. Hankins said it was perfect timing because he was already working on a new emergency plan for the borough that includes the new community center shelter. The plan was last updated in 2010.
Hankins said that ideally, the plan would be updated every five years.
After the drill, the Red Cross gave Hankins feedback about how to improve the new shelter. Their advice included more clearly defining roles for shelter volunteers, keeping a reserve of cots and having a space for pets.
Hankins said he and Petersburg Parks and Recreation Director Stephanie Payne are now taking what they learned from the class and the drill to update the emergency plan.
Bauscher, the actor with the simulated amputation, said the drill was helpful for her, too.
"I have a lot of confidence in the EMS personnel of Petersburg to look after us all," she said. "As I've been sitting here as a civilian in this scenario, I'm like, 'huh, this is probably pretty informative for in case I ever find myself in a situation like this.'"
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