Drama students play victim in county's tornado simulation

Bettie Watts, a theater student at Jayhawk-Linn High School, was placed in the mouth of a culvert with a couple of "injury" tags at a tornado rescue event at the county fairgrounds last month. (Photos by Dawn Carlson / Jayhawk-Linn High School)

MOUND CITY – Drama students from Jayhawk-Linn and Prairie View high schools had the opportunity to play the wounded during an event sponsored by the Linn County Emergency Management agency in October.

The occasion was a simulated tornado event for first responders in the county. About 30 first-responders including representatives from the Linn County Rural Fire Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance service participated, according to Linda Simons, coordinator with the county’s emergency management department.

Students were assigned injuries on a tag they wore and were placed around the Linn County Fairgrounds to simulate the aftermath of a tornado.

Students get last minute instructions from Linda Simons, county emergency management coordinator at far right, before being placed around the fairgrounds to be discovered by rescue crews.

The responders broke into groups and tested search techniques and communications during the event, Simons said.

A part of the event included a report of the "tornado" generated by the National Weather Service.

Drones from the sheriff’s office were used to search the fairgrounds for victims, and infrared cameras were used to find ‘victims’ when visibility was a problem.

Dawn Carlson, drama sponsor at Jayhawk-Linn, said her students enjoyed the exercise that involved playing the injured off stage.

Simons agreed and said the students liked the exercise so well that one of the students who had a broken arm came up to her to ask if another injury card was available as well. But Simons said the only other cards she had left were for fatality victims.

"Victims" of the tornado chow down before getting to work.