Practicing for mayhem

Jose Paul Corona

It was a chaotic scene for school children in

Huntington Beach.

They got under their desks and tried to brace themselves as the

7.2-magnitude earthquake hit their schools. Then they got out of

their classrooms as quickly as possible.

They didn’t exactly feel it, because it was a drill meant to teach

children what to do in case of an earthquake and tested their

preparedness in case one does hit.

The drill came less than a week after a real -- small --

earthquake was felt by many in Huntington Beach and surrounding

areas. There is a fault that runs under the city.

Students in the districts took part in the exercise that was put

on by the city’s fire department, said Glorria Morrison, emergency

services coordinator for the Huntington Beach Fire Department.

While teachers made sure that all of their students were accounted

for, some of the children stayed in their classrooms and feigned

injuries. Teachers and staff members fanned out to search for the

students and attended to their injuries.

“It’s a very familiar routine,” said Gary Rutherford, Huntington

Beach City School District superintendent. “Kids are comforted that a

plan exists in case something does happen.”

The drill forces staff members to cooperate with each other, said

Elaine Keeley, principal of Joseph R. Perry Elementary School.

“It is a good way to get all the staff trained and to practice

their roles,” she said. “We had a great drill. Each year we improve

the quality of our knowledge and the speed with which we’re able to

get our search and rescue teams into the buildings.”

Besides going through evacuation procedures, school staff members

also make sure that their emergency equipment is in working order.

Along with the standard emergency equipment schools have emergency

bins with extra supplies.

Children at John R. Peterson Elementary School bring in food at

the beginning of the school year that is stored in case of a natural

disaster.

While it may seem tedious, it pays off in the end, Principal

Dareen Yonts said.

“The kids don’t get hysterical, because of the practice,” she

said.