Concordians Simulating Disaster in Todos Santos Plaza

First responders will be holding a disaster training exercise in downtown Concord on Saturday, November 2nd, as part of their final graduation drill. 

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of Concord will start to create disaster scenarios at 6:30 a.m. along Salvio Street between Mt. Diablo and Colfax. Some will be in the parking garage while others will be outside on Grant Street, said Gina Scheer, volunteer CERT coordinator.  

People downtown may hear screams or cries for help. 

"It depends on the 'victims,'" Scheer said. "Sometimes we get a good group of people who should have been in the movies," she said with a laugh." 

Some of the CERT graduates will play the role of 'victim,' covered in blood and wounds, while others will enact the role of first responder. About 130 people from Concord's CERT Team will join the CERT team from Martinez in the drills. 

The teams of volunteers were trained in a 20-hour program sponsored by the Contra Costa County Office of Emergency Preparedness and the Concord Police Department. This is their final exam. 

Other interactive scenarios at Saturday’s event will include a debris rescue, damage assessment and a cribbing exercise.

"That's when you use blocks of wood to life a piece of wall or a heavy thing off of a person," Scheer explained. 

The simulation will conclude at 2:30 p.m.