Red Cross Volunteers Ready for Disaster

It could come in the form of a food, tornado or major thunderstorm. 

"We're really preparing for all situations," said Red Cross communications officer Lauren Chapman. "It's vital for us as an organization to prepare for a large-scale emergency."

Red Cross of Southwestern Pennsylvania volunteers gathered at a dozen shelters across the region yesterday to take part in emergency drills in an exercise designed to test how the organization would act in a large-scale disaster.

Community volunteers acted out fictional scenarios for Red Cross first-responders, testing their ability to respond. 

"It could be that someone doesn't speak the language or that someone has a specific kind of illness," Chapman said. "We just need to train on reacting to the various situations."

Chapman said the event marked the first region-wide drill in Western Pennsylvania. 

Volunteers took part in the drills at Pittsburgh Technical Institute in Oakdale, one location that could serve as a shelter in the event of a natural disaster. Cots and aid kits lined one room of the facility, where volunteers stood by to react in the drill. 

"This is really important because often when there's a natural disaster, people will volunteer to help, but that's after the fact," said volunteer Denae McCall, of Shaler, who has been deployed to natural disasters in Kentucky and New York. "But with this, we can train them ahead of time." 

Shelters in Greentree, Trafford, Youngwood and New Kensington were among the locations where volunteers tested their response.