Fifteen members of the Rice-LeSueur Counties Chapter American Red Cross Disaster Team participated in a Disaster Drill and Response Evaluation, held at the Faribault Fire Department on Saturday, May 6. Disaster Specialists Steve Hartman and Lauren Zimmerman, from the Red Cross Midwestern Service Area, facilitated and evaluated the drill.

In the drill scenario a tornado had struck a residential area in Faribault
which included a large apartment complex. The team, under the leadership of local Disaster chair, Jack Blackmer, simulated the chapter's response to the first 72 hours of the disaster. Utilizing the training they have received, the resources of the chapter, and their disaster partners in Rice County, the chapter conducted a table-top drill. They received a good evaluation from the region and, the next day, the chapter leadership constructed a plan for the future development of the chapter disaster program.

The Rice-LeSueur team responds to fires and other disasters displacing
people from their homes in the two-county area. Trained volunteers can also be registered to respond to national Disasters. For more information contact the chapter at 507-334-8471.