Salvation Army Disaster Response Training is an Exercise in Partnership and Collaboration

Volunteers with Ontario’s Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) put their training to the test, learning how to bring compassionate care to those affected by a traumatic, life-changing event.

More than 35 Salvation Army volunteers from across the province took part in ‘Woodstock Wind,’ a simulated disaster exercise at Southside Park in Woodstock, practicing response skills to a devastating tornado that tore through the city.

In the EDS exerecise, many residents were injured or missing, and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, with recovery efforts expected to take months or years. The city of Woodstock requested the help of The Salvation Army’s EDS team to support 2000 affected residents at a reception centre, where people were able to receive emergency food services and emotional and spiritual care.

Salvation Army volunteers served hot soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, chips, cookies, hot chocolate and coffee to first responders, victims and anyone from the community looking for a meal. Emotional and spiritual care was also available for people in need of comfort and reassurance.

The disaster exercise was in partnership with mission partners London Search and Rescue and the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, with observers from the Canadian Armed Forces’ Joint Task Force Central. Sea Cadet members opened their hall to the exercise, providing first aid assistance, a space to prepare and serve food, a place for children to hang out and be entertained and a private room for emotional and spiritual care.

“Having training exercises is a great way to give our members the experience they need to be best prepared to respond. Working with other agencies, like London Search and Rescue and the Woodstock Sea Cadets, helps each organization prepare for the worst,” says Salvation Army Ontario Emergency Disaster Services Specialist Trevor McLellan.

“In a world where we are seeing more and more disasters striking across the country, it is imperative that The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services teams are well trained and ready to respond.”

‘Woodstock Wind’ was a hypothetical exercise to provide volunteers with ‘real life’ experience, but was based on a real tragic event in Woodstock history. On August 7, 1979, at least three tornadoes touched down in southwestern Ontario, devastating farms and homes in the Woodstock area. The tornado struck the southern end of the city, taking the lives of two people and injuring 142 residents. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.

“Having partnerships that bring agencies and their specialties together is important to ensure effective collaboration and coordination in the event of an actual emergency,” says London Search and Rescue Public Information and Safety Officer, Alan Lillie.

“Nobody can do this on their own. We have our role, The Salvation Army has their role, police, fire and EMS have their role and everyone working together gets people home safe.”

London Search and Rescue brought more than 30 trained volunteers to conduct a search for two missing people lost in the woods. In this mock scenario, the victims were tossed into the forest by the tornado and needed medical evacuation due to their injuries.

“Any assistance from other organization is greatly appreciated. We can do the search part, but what we need and appreciate is the food and spiritual care assistance. The more of that help we get the more our teams are able to redeploy,” says Mike Guest, a three-year volunteer with London Search and Rescue.

For more information about The Salvation Army and Emergency Disaster Services in Ontario, or to learn about volunteer opportunities, please visit www.salvationarmy.ca/eds.