Team McConnell responds to mock tornado

by Airman 1st Class John Linzmeier
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

3/7/2014 - MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Team McConnell participated in a county-wide major accident response exercise on March 4.

Base units responded to a mock-tornado emergency, from its initial warning to the recovery of 'injured' victims.

"There's a high probability of severe storms and tornados around here, so we need to be able to make sure we can assess the damage and the injured and get the base back on mission-ready status as soon as possible," said Lt. Col. David Mazzara, 22nd Air Refueling Wing inspector general and exercise evaluator.

Airmen assembled inside designated tornado shelters during the exercise. Once it was 'safe' to come out, Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Sparks, 384th Air Refueling Squadron instructor boom operator, and his fellow Airmen found a challenge waiting for them.

"I came out and I found several people in need of self aid and buddy care." said Sparks. "I started gathering some people and started taking care of a patient and made sure the others were taken care of as well."

The teams of Airmen in the exercise were split into three sections: players, responders and evaluators.

Players were volunteers who 'received various injuries' to act out and accept self aid and buddy care treatment from the responders. Evaluators recorded the responder's performance to assess their strengths and weaknesses.

The players wore make up to simulate injuries to make the scenario as realistic as possible, said Mazzara.

"An exercise like this is important because if something happens during the week, and we have people on base, then we can have our people accounted for and taken care of," said Sparks.