Community members and law enforcement join forces for East Lansing’s first community emergency response team.
Residents gather at the East Lansing Fire Department to test their skills during a simulated disaster situation.
“This is the culmination of their training. What we do is put the team through three different scenarios that test their abilities.” East Lansing Police Office, Steve Gonzalez said.
After twenty hours of training, community members were better prepared to react during a possible emergency situation. According to officials, severe weather is most likely to affect Michigan residents, and that is what community members prepared for.
“We take a look at our hazards and our vulnerabilities to the local area, and some of the things that we think about here in East Lansing are extreme weather events such as tornadoes, severe thunderstorms that may come through town.” Officer Gonzalez said.
East Lansing resident Natisha Adams says that these exercises help her to focus and react to an emergency in the best way possible.
“The more prepared you are, the better able you are to cope with whatever happens.” Adams said.
Officers say that the help is needed if ever law enforcement is overwhelmed during a disaster.
“With the staffing levels that we have at the police department and the fire station its very easy for us, in a major disaster, for our abilities to be overwhelmed.” Office Gonzalez said.