Schorbach Photography

Battalion 12 OPS, Organize and Prepare volunteers to Serve, held a community facing drill on September 28, 2019. This multi-agency volunteer-driven event included: CERT, the American Red Cross, CEMP, Altadena Search and Rescue, CA Rescue Dog Association, CA Emergency Mobile Patrol, Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue, and others. The drill was designed to give community members a chance to practice evacuating within 10 minutes to a local pre-defined shelter site. La Tuna Canyon was chosen as the site because of the recent fire, flooding, and subsequent mudslides. The drill was conducted with the support of the newly formed and state-approved La Tuna Canyon Volunteer Fire Department.

Every year nearly 150 Red Cross volunteers staff the Rose Parade with first aid volunteers and stations along Colorado Blvd in celebration of New Year's Day. The Red Cross has been providing first aid services for the Tournament of Roses for nearly 40 years under the direction of the Pasadena Fire Department. By December they have completed intensive first aid training, attended a variety of meetings and are in the midst of organizing and packing of first aid supplies. The first Saturday in December marks the date they come together for their station assignments and a full-day orientation and training.

A multi-agency Active Shooter Exercise was held at Fairplex in Pomona on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. Pomona Police Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, La Verne Police Department, Claremont Police Department and Cole Schaefer Ambulance Service worked together using Fairplex staff and employees as participants. The drill was held in three phases between 8:30 - 12:00pm in various Fairplex facilities.

A mass-casualty drill was held at the Fairplex in Pomona in conjunction with neighboring Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center on April 24, 2018.

The exercise was partly based on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival last October 2017 in Las Vegas. SWAT, Fire and paramedics, from West Covina, Covina, Glendora, Pomona and Monrovia participated in the special training.

The day started with Bobbie Jo Merica, the owner of Moulage Concepts, Inc., who set her team to task to create 3-D clinical wounds designed to challenge first responders with focused training realism.

Approximately 100 volunteers participated in the simulated mass shooting in the grandstand which lasted nearly two hours.

A multi-hospital decontamination training DRILL was held June 20, 2019 in the parking lot of San Dimas Hospital. Several hospitals in the area participated in the training that included: donning and doffing de-con suits, understanding the use of the equipment, setting up a de-con tent and processing patients effected by a potential chemical or bio-hazard incident.

August 14, 2019: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Dignity Health-St. Mary Medical Center Disaster Resource Center, Department of Health & Human Services, State, Local, and Tribal governments, and civilian organizations, conducted an exercise of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) at the Joint Forces Base, Los Alamitos, CA.

January 14, 2017: In conjunction with the American Red Cross, DART, Disaster Air Response Team, conducted a Blood Air Bridge exercise simulating the delivery of human blood from the Pomona Red Cross Blood Center to Santa Monica Airport. The blood was transported from Brackett Air Field in Pomona by private planes owned by volunteers of DART.

June 30. 2017, Pomona, CA.: Pomona Valley Hospital held a multi-agency, MCI (Multi Casualty Incident) drill Friday morning. The drill was under the direction of Steven Storbakken, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Environmental Safety at Pomona Valley Hospital. The scenario, developed by Chris Riccardi, Constant & Associates, was an active shooter incident that took place at Fairplex sending nearly 50 patients, most with multiple gunshot wounds, to Pomona Valley emergency room. The incident command system was utilized during the drill. Bobbie Merica, Medical Moulage and Trauma Expert of Moulage Concepts, provided an 8-hour training workshop the day prior to the drill. For the actual drill, Bobbie put her skills to work on volunteer "victims" creating life-like trauma in the form of gunshot wounds and lacerations providing doctors and nurses at the emergency room realistic patient conditions to work with. The drill officially started shortly after 9:00 am and concluded approximately 10:45 am.

November 11, 2017: DART, Disaster Air Response Team, in conjunction with the American Red Cross conducted an exercise called “Blood Air Bridge” which transported (empty) boxes of Red Cross blood plasma from Brackett Air Field in Pomona to Santa Monica Airport. The scenario was for the drill was in response to a (simulated) major earthquake that struck during the night causing freeways and major streets to be blocked. Red Cross has a large blood processing facility is in Pomona which supplies approximately 70% of the blood in the area. For the exercise, eight planes flew to Bracket Air Field to pick up blood plasma which were air transported to the Santa Monica Airport. The purpose of the exercise was to show the value of airports to surrounding communities during times of disaster. For additional information: Dave Hopkins, Santa Monica Airport Association