HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-07-18, Page 8Page 8 The Huron Expositor • July 18, 2007
News
Mock disaster allows emergency workers to
test skills and students to see them in action
Susan Hundertmark
One fatality and multiple injuries
were the result of a collision
between a school bus full of stu-
dents, a gasoline truck and a car
carrying a laboui'ing woman during
a mock disaster in Seaforth
Thursday.
But, only the corpse - played by
Audrey Chambers, of Seaforth -
actually made it to hospital with an
injured leg.
A bit of soap and water washed
away the goriest wounds for the rest
of the "victims."
"I think I'm the first corpse to go
to hospital for an injured leg and
come out alive," Chambers joked,
adding that playing dead on the
floor of the bus put her in a position
where she was stepped on a few
times too many.
The mock disaster, part of the
MedQuest camp experience held
last week for Huron and Perth
Grades 10 and 11 students looking
to learn about possible future
careers in the medical field, was
also an opportunity for local fire-
fighters, paramedics, police, Red
Cross volunteers and other emer-
gency personnel to practise Huron
East's disaster plan. •
"Emergencies like these don't hap-
pen on a regular basis but we know
statistically they're going to happen
sometime. And, when the real thing
happens, it'll be easier because of
what you did today," said
Emergency Management Ontario
field manager Steve Beatty, who
was on hand to observe the exercise.
The mock disaster was held at the
corner of Chalk and Duke Street
where Festival Hydro crews
installed a hydro pole specifically
for the exercise which involved the
school bus smashing into the pole,
creating the dan-
gerous situation
of electricity
pooling around
the accident
scene on the
ground.
Festiv"al
Hydro operations
manager Ken
Levy, during the
debriefing after
the accident,
pointed out that
the live wires
that would have
been a hazard
until the hydro
trucks arrived 19
minutes into the
disaster were not
taken seriously
enough by the
rescue crews.
"Both vehi-
cles were alive at
2,400 volts and
ta":.
BY TO YOU \ HEARTLAND
BROTO YOU
CR1 1)1T UNION
JOSEPH HOWE'S FIRST AND ONLY CAR
By Bill Sherk "The Old Car Detective"
A charming letter and photo recently arrived from Kathleen Treehuba of
London, Ontario:
"Dear Bill: I enjoy reading your interesting car stories in the Glencoe
Transcript and Free Press. I thought you might be interested in a picture of
the car my dad bought in Detroit, Michigan.
"I first remember this car when I was four or five years old. We lived in
Detroit at the time, where my dad, .Joseph Howe, drove a bus for the i
Detroit City Motor Bus Company.
"i always believed the car was a Model T Ford - but my nephew thinks it
may have been some other make."
Kathleen's nephew is correct. It may have been an Essex, suggested by i
the white marker near the top of the radiator shell. The Essex was a mod- 1
erately priced car manufactured by the Hudson Motor Car Company of
Detroit from 1919 to the early 1930s. It was introduced as an upscale com-
petitor to the Model T, and this is perhaps why Kathleen thought the car
was that make.
"The picture was taken in the summer of 1928 on the faun of my grand-
parents, William and Elsie Stenson, near Glencoe, Ontario. My dad is
standing at the front, Elsie Stenson is also standing, Bill Stenson is in the
front seat, and my mother Ethel Bowe is in the back seat.
"Dad bought the car a year or two before that in Detroit. it had no win-
dows but did have 'side curtains' which were fastened on in cold or rainy
weather. On each side of the car was a running board just below the doors.
i don't recall the car having a trunk - so don't know where we stored our
' clothes when we travelled.
"We often took trips -from Detroit to visit relatives in Glencoe. I remem-
her one Christmas being bundled up in the hack seat with pillows and blan-
kets for the journey. There was no heater in the car, of course. M1v two
brothers and i thought this was a great adventure.
"As the distance from Detroit to Glencoe was over one hundred miles,
Dad was pretty brave to take such a trip in the winter, as flat tires were a
common occurrence.
"To start the car, Dad would crank it with a hand crank at the front of the '
car. This sometimes took several attempts and a good strong arm. We all
gave a sigh of relief when the motor finally started (and i added a few words j
to my vocabulary listening to this whole performance!) . 1
"With the coming of the Depression and unemployment in the States, we !
moved back to Canada in 1932. Dad no longer drove the car. it sat in the i
hack yard before eventually being sold. i
"I remember how proud Dad was of that car - the only one he ever owned."
You can visit CarStory online at www.CarStory.com. Email: bill@carsto-
ry.com or write Bill Sherk, 33 Oak St. E., P.O. Box 10012, Leamington, ON
N8H 2C3.
Susan Hundertmark photo
Seaforth firefighters and Huron County paramedics work together to evacuate
Caitlin Armstrong, of Clinton, from a school bus during a mock disaster in Seaforth
Thursday.
one of the firemen touched the car
when he first came on the scene," he
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11. 4(
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said.
Levy empathized that firefighters
and paramedics want to get to the
traumatized victims as quickly as
possible but encouraged them to
assess the dangers to themselves
first.
Lynda Rotteau, the emergency
measures coordinator from
Goderich who also was on the scene
to assess the response, said the dis-
aster simulaton was "very realistic
and much better than last year."
"Everyone noticed that we lost a
cop and a fireman when they
touched the bus," she said.
But, she added that she was
impressed by the first police officer
on the scene who asked a student on
the bus to do CPR on another
See SIMULATION, Page 24