Thousands of major disaster responders spent Tuesday as day two of preparing for the aftermath of a mock-earthquake.
Monday they worked through a rubble pile to rescue tenants of a collapsed building. Challenges they faced were large heavy rocks and tight dark spaces.
But once those people are out of the pile, they need the proper care for any injuries.
Their tent is nothing fancy, but past the signage, the quality of work inside tent is no different.
"Full service hospital. We have everything a hospital could want,” said Lt. Col. Ed Wakem. “We also have the ability through telemedicine to send x-ray images to specialists to assist us with evaluations."
Outside the EMEDS facility, helicopters wait for special treatment delivery patients, inside are ten holding beds plus more.
"This very facility was actually used during the Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief operations,” Wakem said.
It's no stranger to disaster. And the idea is that the workers not be strangers to it.
So through blinking and breathing dummies, medical personnel react to what would be likely injuries from an earthquake.
"And these are from falls...from the concussions from the explosions....and this compromises the way they breathe and the way the cardiac function works,” medical staff participant Mauro Sarmiento said.
Working under pressure and in not-so-normal conditions, they can better prepare themselves for a crisis situation that gives little time for second thoughts.
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