Mock Disasters

    A mock disaster program is intended to prepare citizens for potential disasters so that the greatest needs of the citizenry can be met. (see Potential Disasters possible in Tucson, Arizona and the surrounding area website).  Perhaps one of the greatest needs is communication.  Unfortunately, communication is one of the first needs negatively affected by most disasters.

    Earthquake example: Past earthquakes in California caused cell phone towers to become overloaded within minutes of the earthquake.  Also, 911 call centers overloaded and callers received busy signals or an automated message.  Therefore, it is recommended that people are organized into groups with designated representatives.  Allowing only designated representatives to call emergency personnel, 911, or information hotlines will prevent an overload of the communications systems.   Additionally, a designated representative can also disseminate information, from the group to proper government, church, or other authorities, such as number of persons injured, stranded, or missing.  A group’s designated representative should have the ability to communicate through as many means as possible.  Ham radio operators made good group representatives because of the ability of radio operators to communicate between groups when cell phones or other communications services are unavailable.   We recommend that everyone becomes licensed to operate amateur radios (ham radios) which require an F.C.C. license. 

   Those who currently have a ham radio license are invited to participate in our ham net every Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. on 146.880 MHz negative offset on top of Mt Lemmon and on 147.300 MHz positive offset, located at the Pima Emergency Communications Operations center.  Both repeaters have a tone of 110.9 Hz (see the main page of this website for further information and details regarding the ham net and License Exam Preparation)

    There are two other forms of radio communications available which are the GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) that also requires an F.C.C. license to operate, but no exam is required to obtain the license.  The other form of communication is the FRS (Family Radio Service) radio system and does not require a license to operate.  The GMRS and FRS radios are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at the local ACE Hardware, or other variety stores.

    A best practice following a disaster is to treat every injured individual by a medical professional.   However, many disasters severely damage local infrastructure such that transportation to a hospital or crisis center may not be possible. Emergency vehicles may not be able to reach injured individuals. Furthermore, hospitals become full, short staffed, and unable to care for everyone.

   Therefore, belonging to a group of acquaintances and friends will increase efficient assistance to all injured people in each faith based group’s geographical area. Groups should be made up of ham radio operators, mentions above, and individuals belonging to the Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.).   C.E.R.T. volunteers receive training in basic disaster medical operations and triage. This program was started in California following an earthquake and is a very effective mechanism for assisting all citizens during and after a disaster.

    This website is intended to help faith based leaders of all religions or all tenets in Tucson & the surrounding communities. 

Group level 1 leadership:

    Group level 1 leadership is the leadership that serves a congregation or the most basic group of any religion.

Group level 2 leadership:

    Group level 2 leadership oversees the leaders for group level 1 leadership.

    We recommend that there be an Emergency Preparedness Committee established by group level 1 leadership with a committee representative who will report to group level 1 leadership. 

    This Emergency Preparedness Committee functions as the Disaster Relief Team who meets at the Gathering/Command Center during a mock or real disaster and should consist of the following:

An Emergency Preparedness Coordinator who conducts monthly committee meetings and reports to the group level 1 leadership.   Those attending the committee meetings can be:

A Resource Minister who gathers information long before any disaster such as where shelter, food, & other essential supplies will be available once needed.

An Emergency Preparedness Administrator who helps members prepare individually and as families long before any disaster by helping individuals and families acquire adequate food storage (click on Food Storage on this website), first aid supplies (also click on Food Storage and scroll down to First Aid in that tab) and first aid training, as well as a 72 hour kit (click on 72 hour kits on this website).  This individual will help triage area leaders’ needs for their groups.

A Communications Coordinator (focusing on ham radio training and supervision).  He/she works with emergency personnel and NET Control:  The ham radio operator who is in charge of the alltenets (All Tucson Emergency NET) and operates our communication center for this website runs our net or operates our communication center at our NET disaster relief base.  This person is NET Control for this website. (i.e. command center’s ham radio operator for all groups)

A Neighborhood Captain Coordinator to coordinate all Disaster Relief Team efforts during either mock disasters or real disasters. 

A C.E.R.T. Administrator may also serve as The Neighborhood Captain Coordinator (an assistant may fulfill this function) overseeing training and placement of the C.E.R.T. trained Neighborhood Captains.  Neighborhood Captains who have difficulty getting C.E.R.T. trained should coordinate with the C.E.R.T. Administrator to receive as much First Aide training as possible from the Emergency Preparedness Administrator.

    Mock disasters are a staged enactment of a real disaster so those participating in the mock disaster get practice at performing their duties long before a real disaster. 

    Mock disasters:

1. Should be conducted once a year.
2. Should be the same weekend every year.
3. The group responsible for creating this website will be conducting their mock disaster on the last weekend (in our case on a Saturday) in September each year.
4. This will hopefully end up becoming the weekend all mock disasters are held city wide.
5. Mock Disasters should be staged as if each year a different disaster sticks such as those listed in this website’s Potential Disasters The first Mock Disaster should be the one with the least difficulty for your disaster relief team to manage.
6. It would probably be best to only involve members of your group in a mock disaster unless your group leadership decides otherwise.
7. In a real disaster your group leadership needs to decide ahead of time whether or not your efforts will serve those who are not members of your group.

    Before conducting a mock disaster your group will need to establish the Neighborhood Captain program.  Within your group you need to select members who are willing to devote one day a year at participating in a mock disaster by committing to the following:

1. All Neighborhood Captains ONLY CHECK ON members of your group for mock disasters unless your group leadership tells you otherwise.
2. Neighborhood Captains will actually only be checking on members of your group who chose to participate in the mock disaster by displaying an 8 ½” X 11” card (stiff paper) form in their front window. (see Forms below)(pg 13)
3. If sanctioned ahead of time by your group level 1 leadership & if your Neighborhood Captains are C.E.R.T. trained & feels comfortable checking on nonmembers of your group in the event of a real disaster then & only then should a Neighborhood Captain check residence of someone who is not a part of your group to determine if anyone is injured there.
4. All Neighborhood Captains should have cell phones & either ham radios or GMRS or FRS radios for communicating with their Neighborhood Captain Coordinator (see Neighborhood Captain Coordinator below) (pg . GMRS & FRS radios should be tested long before a mock disaster to make sure that they work as well as they should to perform the function needed within all ‘Neighborhoods’. 
5. If you have a volunteer Neighborhood Captain that is not C.E.R.T. trained or even First Aid trained he still can serve as a Neighborhood Captain, but may need assistance in the event he finds someone needing medical attention or even First Aid. It would be advisable for your Neighborhood Captain Coordinator to help all non-C.E.R.T. trained Neighborhood Captains learn how to sweep their ‘Neighborhood’ & the residences in his ‘neighborhood’.  Then it would also be advisable that your Emergency Preparedness Administrator help all non-C.E.R.T. trained and non-First Aid trained to learn some basic First Aid at least.

Duties of a Neighborhood Captain are as follows:

1. Makes sure his own family is safe & secure first.
2. ‘Sweep’ (see ‘sweep’ below) their ‘neighborhood’ (see ‘neighborhood’ below) looking for injured group members
3. Give First Aid to those who are bleeding, having difficulty breathing, or in shock.

 C.E.R.T. trained Neighborhood Captains are trained on how to look for these medical conditions & administer First Aid for them.  It would be good if all Neighborhood Captains are C.E.R.T. trained, but all Neighborhood Captains should at least get all the First Aid training they can of some kind so that they are qualified to give this kind of First Aid to those who need it in their ‘neighborhood’.

4. Call, either by phone or radio, or send a ‘runner’ to the group’s ‘Neighborhood Captain Coordinator’ for ‘your group’s ambulatory team’ in transporting seriously injured group members to a hospital, but if hospitals are overloaded then the seriously injured should be transported to the group’s ‘triage’ area nearest that ‘neighborhood’.

NOTE: The Neighborhood Captains should NOT transport the injured to the Triage area.

Also NOTE: The Neighborhood Captain should not be discussing the injured with anyone other than his Neighborhood Captain Coordinator.   His duties are too demanding to be discussing anything with anyone else.  However, the Neighborhood Captain should be able to get or receive calls from his own family from time to time only for the purpose of making sure that they are still safe.

5. E.R.T. training teaches that the meaning of Triage is to help as many people as possible to survive their injuries. Neighborhood Captains have to make a very difficult decision when treating two opposite cases.
6. Lots of people may be frightened by the disaster that just struck, but if their life is not in peril then a Neighborhood Captain staying with them may cause someone else in his ‘neighborhood’ to die without his help. 
7. Even more difficult to deal with is the person who may die anyway no matter how much help he gets from those administering First Aid. Each Neighborhood Captain needs to decide whether he moves on in such a case & helps others or stops & stays with the seriously injured member even though his injuries are so severe that he is likely not to live long because of them.
8. Inform all group members about the ‘gathering area’ & encourage those whose Home is severely damaged to go there & welcome all group members to go there should they choose to go for any reason.
9. Take an accounting of every member of their group using a ‘Block Tally sheet’ so the group level 1 leadership knows the whereabouts of everyone in the group.

sweeping a neighborhood: a systemic way of checking every Home or apartment for injured members of one’s own group so as not to miss any Home or apartment.  Sweeping a neighborhood should always be done in the same rotation of direction (either clockwise or counter clockwise).

Sweeping a residence: During C.E.R.T. training the trainee is taught to sweep a residence by starting out always in a clockwise direction throughout every residence, going in every door (closet or other rooms alike) then back out that same door & continuing on in his sweep until coming back to the point from which he started sweeping.

1. Around 20 residences is an average size for any one Neighborhood Captain if coving fairly flat ground.
2. Consider how far apart the residences are in a given ‘neighborhood’. Approximately two miles is about as far as any one Neighborhood Captain should be expected to cover on flat ground.
3. A ‘hilly’ terrain will lessen the number of members the Neighborhood Captain should be assigned to check on as well as the distance the Neighborhood Captain covers should be reduced in ‘hilly’ terrain as well.
4. The age & physical shape of the Neighborhood Captain should be taken into account when assigning him/her his/her ‘neighborhood’.
5. Because some disasters may require that Neighborhood Captains walk to their ‘neighborhood’ it might be best if he/she lives in or very close to his/her designated ‘neighborhood’.
6. Special considerations:
7. During the California earthquake some ‘neighborhood s’ were unable to be covered by driving a car to & through the route due to the condition of the roads.
8. If the disaster is a man caused Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) then cars prior to about 1990 may be the only vehicles on the road. (see Potential Disasters in this website).

     So, just be aware that your Neighborhood Captain may NOT be able to drive to or around in his ‘neighborhood’ once he sets out to sweep his ‘neighborhood’ for the injured.   For your first mock disaster it would be best to enact the least complicated disaster (perhaps drought)(see Potential Disasters in this website). 

     However, in future years of enacting mock disasters it would be good to look over the list of potential disasters as listed in this website determined by the City of Tucson & plan on some contingency that will require your Neighborhood Captains to serve their ‘neighborhood’ with limited resources due to the disaster scenario for which your leadership chooses to prepare.  Again, the first mock disaster should have as few planned complications to test as possible, but should be a staged enactment so as to mimic one of the potential disasters as established by the City of Tucson as recorded in this website under Potential Disasters.

     The second mock disaster could be one where cell phone towers do not work.  The third year could be a disaster where cars don’t work, & so forth.  Too many complications all at one time may cause more problems than your leadership can handle so it would be best to keep the staged challenges to a minimum, but progressively more difficult from year to year.

Ministering help: If your group level 1 leadership is concerned for the emotional or spiritual well being on the members of your group it is suggested that a spiritual advisor stay near the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator as reports come into him from the Neighborhood Captains about your group membership’s injuries.  If a report comes in of someone needing emotional or spiritual help then the spiritual advisor can get a minister to that individual if one is available.  Ministering or spiritual advisors should NOT be in direct contact with Neighborhood Captains.

    The C.E.R.T. program was started after one of the 1985 earthquake in California by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) for the purpose of assisting with safe disaster relief.  C.E.R.T. members are trained on when it is safe to enter a structurally damaged residence & how to locate injured persons quickly & efficiently & offer qualified First Aid to those in need.  They are trained in the reality of triage & how to set up & operate a triage area.  They are not only trained in what to do for the injured but what to say & not say to them to maximize the injured person’s healing.  The training is hands-on & not just class room lecturing.  The reason that the LAFD started this program was the reality of fire departments needing First Aid trained people helping their neighbors during a disaster inasmuch as no fire department is equipped to assist all injured people immediately following a major disaster in a large city like Tucson.  If any of your group would like to become C.E.R.T. trained but do not know how or where to start then please view the C.E.R.T. section on this website that explains C.E.R.T. information in great detail.  Ask us any question you have through the website & let us know what you need & we will do our best to help answer your questions or direct you to whatever or whoever you need.

    A runner is someone who ‘runs’ the information about a member who needs transported from the residence where the Neighborhood Captain has found the seriously injured member to the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator then upon delivering the critical information he runs back & finds the Neighborhood Captain where ever he has ended up so the runner is prepared to run new information again as needed.  A runner is only needed in the event that phones and/or radios do not work for any reason.  If your group is in short supply of those who would make good runners perhaps you ought to consider taking our ‘ham radio license exam preparation class’ (see the section on ham radios in this website).  GMRS or FRS radios may be sufficient for a small area.  GMRS radios require a license, but no exam is required.  FRS radios do not require any license whatsoever.  It is advisable to test GMRS or FRS radios long before the Mock Disaster to make sure that they will serve your needs for which you intend to use them.  They do not work anywhere near as well as a ham radio.

    If a Home of one of your members is vacant due to the member being away then the Neighborhood Captain needs to report that the Home was vacant (see the attached ‘Vacant or Already Evacuated’ form to be taped on the outside of the house).  That information still needs to be included in the ‘Block Tally sheet’.  NOTE: All C.E.R.T. trained members know to have tape in the pack they carry with them.  Also note a ‘Vacant’ sign in the window of a Home can be a looter’s invitation to loot.  If your group leadership has concerns about that after a real disaster or if your group leadership has concerns about the general caliber of citizens in your group’s boundaries whether conducting a mock disaster or responding to a real disaster then perhaps an alternative code word only known to your group might be best in some situations as an alternative to a ‘Vacant’ sign.

    A ‘Triage area’ is an area where an ambulatory team will transport seriously injured members from their residences to be cared for until medical professionals can provide care.  The triage area should be near several ‘neighborhood s’ that have been assessed to a C.E.R.T. or a First Aid trained Neighborhood Captain.   The number of members in each group and their proximity will determine how many ‘Triage areas’ are needed.

1. The Triage area is best located on flat grassy ground or in buildings as circumstances allow.
2. Protection from heat and cold is an important attribute of the triage area.
3. Appropriate ground protection is also an important attribute.
4. Each Triage area will need a ‘Triage area manager’ who contacts the Emergency Preparedness Administrator for supplies and assistance. 
5. It is imperative that triage areas should have trained medical personnel on hand with the ability to communicate across triage areas.
6. Triage areas should have many assistants to help with the injured.
7. Accessible necessities such as toilets or porta potties and drinking water are important considerations.

It would be best to name your ambulatory team with a name associated with your group so as not to become confusing when a ham radio call goes out for your ambulatory team, so: [Your group’s name] ambulatory team.  Your ambulatory team consists of the following:

1. One individual with as much medical training as possible.
2. Two people to assist in transporting seriously injured individual/s.
3. ‘Neighborhood Captains’ do NOT transport anyone.  Neighborhood Captains are not a part of any ambulatory team.

1. A gathering center should consist of 2 officers with one being the officer-in-charge.
2. A gathering/command center is where displaced people gather who do not have medical needs. However, the gathering/command center can be used as a
3. The gathering/command center: where command headquarters are located consist of the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Resource Minister, Emergency Preparedness Administrator, Neighborhood Captain Coordinator, Communications Coordinator, Net control (in the case of this website’s team), Spiritual Minister, and any other gathering centers representatives your leadership desires then they report all gathered information to your group’s level 1 leadership.

    Your primary gathering center is the location where the Disaster Relief team meets.  Only one gathering/command center is needed, but multiple staging areas can be associated with gathering centers.  Appendix 1:

The following is an explanation of the forms to use in mock disasters as well as real disasters:

1. Everyone within your group boundaries needs 4 cards (8 ½ “ X 11” stiff sheets) one of which is to be put on the inside of their front window: a red, yellow, green, or white card (see attached) during either a mock or real disaster.
2. The red card says, “ NEED IMMEDIATED HELP“
3. The yellow card says, “ NEED HELP NOT CRITICAL “
4. The green card says, “ ALL IS WELL “
5. The White card says, “  VACANT OR ALREADY EVACUATED  ”.   These are distributed ahead of time.  IMPORTANT:  It might be best to NOT post this ‘vacant’ sign in the Homes of those in your group during a mock disaster.  Thieves may make use of that information. Try: “ CHECKED “
6. Before a mock disaster various members need to be asked by the group leader’s designated Emergency Preparedness Coordinator to display either a RED or a YELLOW card.  All others in the group should only be asked to just display a GREEN card.
7. Those asked to display either a RED or YELLOW card need to be instructed as to what to do when the Neighborhood Captain arrives. Those with the RED or YELLOW cards need to ‘play the part’ of either an injured, a seriously injured, or dead person.
8. It is a good idea to become creative about various scenarios of those ‘acting the part’ and displaying RED or YELLOW cards.
9. Each ‘neighborhood’ in a mock disaster should have at least one RED and one YELLOW card displayed. Having a few prepared ahead of time to ‘act’ as if they have some sort of medical emergency helps prepare the Neighborhood Captains  to deal with an actual real disaster.  Each Neighborhood Captain should deal with a staged seriously injured actor who needs transported to the triage area serving his neighborhood.
10. All of the members of your group who are C.E.R.T. trained should be called as Neighborhood captains, if they will accept the assignment.  It is best if the C.E.R.T. trained Neighborhood Captains are evenly distributed amount the other non-C.E.R.T.-trained Neighborhood Captains when the sweep begins, however all Neighborhood Captains should be sweeping a ‘neighborhood’ as close to where they live as possible.
11. If the help needed is beyond the scope of the C.E.R.T. trained Neighborhood Captain then he needs to contact 911 and either ask for an ambulance in a real disaster and if the cell towers are overloaded or the 911 call center is overloaded then the Neighborhood Captain needs to contact his own Neighborhood Captain Coordinator & ask for ‘[Your group’s name] ambulatory team’ to come transport the seriously injured individual to the triage area.  The Neighborhood Captain Coordinator also informs the Communications Coordinator that the 911 call center cannot be reached. At that point the Communications Coordinator begins doing all he can to get through to the 911 call center either via phone or ham radio.  At that point the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator lets all Neighborhood Captains know that the Communications Coordinator is attempted to reach the 911 Call Center so they should not waste time trying to get in touch with the 911 Call Center until further notice.
12. In the six important forms presented here, two of these forms are to be filled out by each Neighborhood Captain and submitted to the level one leader’s assigned Neighborhood Captain Coordinator who in turn gives a copy to the group level 1 leadership.
13. The remaining four forms are to be filled out by the individual serving in the Emergency Preparedness committee as the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator. That Neighborhood Captain Coordinator will obtain the information to fill out these forms from the forms submitted by the Neighborhood Captains.  The rest of the forms will all be filled out by either the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator or their assistant.  The forms are as follows (EOC is Tucson’s Emergency Operations Center):
14. The Block Tally sheet: to be filled out by the Neighborhood Captain and given to the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator and given to group level 1 leadership. The group level 1 leadership can give copies of these forms to the group level 2 leadership.
15. The Neighborhood Captain special needs report to also be filled out by the Neighborhood Captains & given to the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator then to the level 1 then 2 group leadership.
16. The Neighborhood Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Tally sheet to be filled out by the E.R.T. Administrator to be given to group level 1 leadership then to the group level 2 leadership, but ultimately should be handed to the City of Tucson EOC.
17. The Neighborhood EOC Special Needs Report (for EOC) to be filled out by the E.R.T. Administrator, but ultimately should be handed off to the City of Tucson EOC.
18. The Area Command Tally sheet (for EOC) to also be filled out by the E.R.T. Administrator, but ultimately should be handed off to the City of Tucson EOC.
19. The Area Command Special Needs Report (for EOC) to also be filled out by the E.R.T. Administrator, but ultimately should be handed off to the City of Tucson EOC.

EOC (Emergency Operations Center) for the City of Tucson.

Note: In cities where C.E.R.T. and Neighborhood Captains have already proven themselves the city’s EOC welcomes the forms intended for them from high level group leaders, however in cities where no large-scale disasters have occurred not all those cities welcome these forms. If your group of faithful members are so numerous in Tucson that you have a 3^rd level of leadership that is the leadership group who ought to be giving these forms to the EOC so the EOC is NOT overwhelmed with faith-based leaders submitting these forms.  Although the C.E.R.T. program started in California, Utah has become a leading example of how to be trained and how to perform mock disasters.

The Neighborhood Tally sheet is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain & given to his Neighborhood Captain Coordinator who gives a copy to the group level 1 leadership.  After the group level 1 leadership copies it to keep for themselves. That group level 1 leader can forward a copy to the group level 2 leadership.

The Neighborhood Captain Special needs report is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain & submitted to the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator who gives a copy to the group level 1 leadership.

The Community EOC Tally sheet (for EOC) is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator (NOT the Neighborhood Captain) & passed on to the group level 1 then 2 leadership, but ultimately this form should be passed on to the city of Tucson’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or Pima County’s Office of Emergency Management.

The Community EOC special Needs Report (for EOC) is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator & submitted to the group level 1 then 2 leadership to ultimately go to the City of Tucson Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or Pima County’s Office of Emergency Management (O.E.M.):

The Area Command Tally sheet (for EOC) is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator & submitted to the group level 1 then 2 leadership, but this was created to give to Tucson’s Emergency Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or Pima County’s O.E.M. & should only be handed off by the highest group leadership your group has:

The Area Command Special needs report is filled out by the Neighborhood Captain Coordinator & submitted to the group level 1 then 2 leadership, but this was created to give to Tucson’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) or Pima County’s O.E.M. & should only be handed off by the highest group leadership your group has:

As soon as possible after a mock disaster the mock disaster review board with the entire Emergency Preparedness committee (during the disaster referred to as: Disaster Relief Team), all Neighborhood Captains, ambulatory team, triage area manager, medical authority, adjutants, gathering officer-in-charge, all leaders alike  discuss what worked and what needs work.  It is important to record what WORKED as well as what needs work.  Also important is a well documented record of the findings of that meeting to be gone over with all Neighborhood Captains, ambulatory team members, triage area personnel, and gathering center officers.   That information is to be given to all those participating in the recent mock disaster right after that meeting.  Pointing out favorable reports of those who did very well is good.  It is advisable for the group leader’s lead representative of the relief effort to individually interview all mock disaster participants after the group meeting.  For those who have had experience in leadership especially for those familiar with Management by Objectives the following is not necessary, however for anyone new to leading others you might want to consider the following:

It is always good to catch people in the act of doing things right and openly praise them.  Any performance less than stellar would be best discussed on an individual basis privately for the sole purpose of making the practice disaster a learning experience and NOT be conducted as a book review or a movie critic’s assessment.  Most of the time when a person does not do a good job they know it more than anyone else so perhaps rather than telling someone they did a good job or a bad job the interviewer should be asking: “What did you do that you know really worked?  What did you do that you think might need work?”  Then discuss their answer.   If someone did not do well yet does not think that they did not do well and do not see any need for their improvement it might be wise to ask specific questions about specific responsibility outcomes you may feel needs help then discuss their answers to those questions gently, but with some assertiveness.  So, in spite of the fact that improvement is critical, keeping those volunteers as next year’s volunteers is also critical.

Also the assessment of last year’s mock disaster as gathered by the review board could possibly be sent out via e-mail a week or more before the next mock disaster the following year.