As the ambulances pulled up to the church hall in Allenstown the afternoon of Oct. 27, emergency medical technicians quickly unloaded injured children and wheeled a woman on a stretcher into the newly opened American Red Cross shelter. A local patrolman and a Red Cross disaster volunteer stood at the door, guiding the arrivals to the shelter registration desk.

Happily for all involved, this was a simulated disaster drill. The scenario of a tornado ripping through an Allenstown mobile home park was fictitious. The children arriving by ambulance were in fact healthy members of the Pembroke Boys and Girls Club and Boy Scout Troop 120 from Candia and Troop 270 from Pembroke. Though a simulation, this exercise was taken very seriously by all involved.

Organized by the town of Allenstown, the disaster drill brought together emergency responders (EMTs, police and firefighters) from Allenstown and surrounding towns, along with more than 40 disaster-trained volunteers from the New Hampshire chapters of the American Red Cross. Even some residents of Allenstown joined in the real-life drama as stand-ins for disaster victims.

“This was an excellent opportunity to train and coordinate with our partner agencies on a simulation of a possible large-scale disaster,” said Helen Champa, the Red Cross operations manager for the drill.

In addition to the town emergency responders, other groups involved were the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, the Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team, and the Disaster Animal Response Team.

Large signs hung in the hall at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church on School Street, identifying it as a Red Cross shelter. The hall’s open space was lined with tables where Red Cross workers registered each shelter arrival, tended to simulated medical or emotional needs, and distributed food. Another table was the center for Red Cross Disaster Assessment, where the team pored over maps of “damaged” neighborhoods and blocked roads. The center of the hall was filled with cots where the “injured” could rest.

The disaster assessment team alerted the shelter staff of their simulated findings – 600 homes had been damaged by the tornado;, all communication systems were down, roads were blocked  and 850 people were affected, some being disabled, emotionally distraught and non-English speakers. As each volunteer “victim” arrived at the shelter, they displayed a tag with details of their assigned condition. Some carried stuffed animals representing pets that were directed to a room of crates run by the Disaster Animal Response Team on the lower level.

During the drill, 43 volunteer victims were registered, six were reviewed at the Health Services desk, and two were “referred” to a hospital for more advanced medical care. The Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team member and a Red Cross Disaster Mental Health volunteer “counseled” five young people, 17 adults and two shelter staff.

The Red Cross prepared 150 meals for breakfast and 170 meals for lunch. The meals were very real and appreciated by both responders and victims during the day-long drill.

Tim Wall, director of Disaster and Emergency Services at the Red Cross Greenwich, Conn., chapter, attended the drill as a Red Cross evaluator for operation of the shelter and responsibilities of the volunteers.

“This drill went very well, with no major problems,” Wall said.

In a post-event debriefing, he complimented the disaster volunteers, while also encouraging all to continue with as much Red Cross disaster training as possible.

The role of the American Red Cross in any disaster, large or small, is to provide shelter, food, clothing, emotional support and other emergency needs to those affected by the disaster. All Red Cross assistance to disaster victims is free of charge, made possible by public donations to the Disaster Relief Fund.