Volunteers and Los Angeles Fire Department officials gathered in Sylmar Saturday for a large-scale, highly-realistic drill to help prepare for a massive earthquake in Southern California.
More than 120 Community Emergency Response Team volunteers joined in the training, held at the Oakridge Mobile Home Park, which included realistic disaster scenarios complete with actors playing the parts of injured patients, complete with special effects-style injuries. Some appeared dazed, others were bleeding, pinned under debris or unconscious.
The drill provides volunteers with an opportunity to train alongside the professionals in the skills they would need in the wake of a major disaster, like a powerful earthquake in a populated area, organizers said.