Are You Prepared?

I was lying in the hallway with my guts hanging out, surrounded by a dozen others - some crying out in pain, others moaning in semi-consciousness, and a few silently deceased. James, an SFFD paramedic, moved swiftly among the scattered bodies, assessing the severity of our injuries and expertly tying colored triage tape around our wrists - yellow for non-life-threatening injuries; red for life-threatening ones; and black for the already-departed. The few green-tagged "walking wounded" helped calm the live victims with soothing words. Though I was tagged red and promised high-priority passage when the ambulance arrived, I knew -- as I gazed down at the bloody entrails on my lap -- that there was no hope for me.

This was one of several similarly dramatic scenes around SFO today during the airport's Earthquake 2009 Full-Scale Exercise. As a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)-trained volunteer, I had the chance to get moulaged as an injured victim (along with >100 others) for this drill, which simulated rescue efforts after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake. On October 17, the Bay Area will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake, the last "big one" that hit the region.

According to SFO Director John Martin, "While federal law mandates we hold a major exercise only once every three years, SFO holds one every year to ensure that all emergency responders and our mutual aid support agencies are current and familiar with every facet of the airport's emergency response plan."

No matter how well-coordinated the responders, though, the main take-home message from this exercise, the CERT training, and Hurricane Katrina (etc.) is this: We the average citizen should expect to be "on our own" for at least 3-5 days following a major disaster. Time to restock those emergency supplies and revisit our family disaster plan.