Mike Devich-Managing editor

It could happen.

The Kern Valley could be hit by a strong earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale or larger. A quake that big could cause massive destruction in the valley.

In a sobering reminder of what could happen, a disaster drill was held at Kern Valley Hospital Dec. 8, simulating what might happen if a major earthquake struck. Fire crews, students from Kern Valley High School's ECHO Academy, Cerro Coso EMT trainees and hospital employees all participated in the drill.

A disaster drill was held Dec. 8 at Kern Valley Hospital in Mt. Mesa to prepare for such a disaster if one should happen. In the drill, teams of rescue workers as well as students from Kern Valley High School and Cerro Coso College were told a large earthquake had hit the hospital, and Acute Care had caved in. There were several patients trapped. And to make matters worse, a bus had crashed into a power pole just outside the hospital with injured people aboard.

The Kern Valley High School ECHO (Exploring Careers in Health Occupations) Academy students were bused to the hospital, about 50 of them. The students met in the hospital's cafeteria and were given their assignments.

Four ECHO students were placed in a couple of unused Acute Care rooms and instructed to act the part of injured patients. They had been made up to look like they had injuries by KVHS drama teacher Kristin Kelly. Jasmine Byrd, Ruth Branam, Anjelina Villegas and Amanda Virgil, all 15 years old, were told what had supposedly happened to them in the earthquake - TVs had fallen on them, the roof had collapsed on them, and one was told she had been quietly sitting at the sink brushing her teeth when the supposed quake hit and was now trapped. Another was hidden behind an overturned bed. Then they quietly waited for rescue teams to find them, determine the state of their injuries, place them on backboards and evaculate them to the triage area outside on the helipad/lawn area in front of the hospital.

Meanwhile, more students were outside setting up the triage area, laying down tarps and unloading medical supplies and equipment, being carefully watched by ECHO volunteer and mentor Don Reed. "Patients" carried in from both the hospital and the van started to fill up the triage area, and students scurried back and forth treating them. Observing and training along with them were Kern Valley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members and Forest Service and Kern County Fire Department personnel.

The Fire Department was a little late because they had a real accident to attend to in the canyon, according to a participant at the drill.

The weather was windy and cold, which may have caused a few people to chicken out, said CERT volunteer Tom Klein.

"In a real disaster, you can't predict how the weather is going to be," he said. He said emergency workers don't have a choice of going to real disasters only in nice weather.

Joanne Jones, a Kern Valley Healthcare District board member, Peggy Hosman, secretary of the ECHO Academy, were helping to coordinate and oversee the drill, along with a host of other ECHO, KVHS and KVHD personnel.

"The kids did a great job," said Hosman. She and Reed and the other instructors on the scene were evaluating the response time of the students and how they did on the drill. Several had video and still cameras to record what the students were doing.

At times it seemed all too realistic, with moaning and screaming patients - realistic simulated bruises and blood showing - thrashing around on the plastic tarps. But it was necessary training for something that really could happen.

Brad Armstrong, another KVHD board member, said disaster drills like this used to be held "all the time," and should be held more often.

"I think it went very well," said Jones. "In any disaster situation there is going to be chaos," and she said the students generally coped well. Jones is also an EMT instructor at Cerro Coso College.

Tom Cormack, lead ECHO teacher, said, "The kids did fine. This was a lot more of a surprise drill than the one earlier this year. At that one we did a lot more rehearsal, and this one was more spontaneous."

After the drill was done, the "patients" simply got up, shook themselves off and walked away. Watching the drill - especially seeing the "dead" covered up entirely with blankets - was a sobering reminder of what could happen if a real-life disaster struck.