The annual Disaster Drill, hosted on the campus of Piedmont University, occurred on Wednesday, March 20. Demorest Police Department, Habersham and Stephens County first responders, Northeast Georgia Medical, Public Health and Air Life were in attendance. 

Every year, the university gives nursing students at Piedmont the opportunity to experience life-like scenarios and hands-on practice to prepare them for their careers. Students get the opportunity to operate on patients on the disaster scene with high adrenaline levels. 

“We had a great drill,” said campus police chief officer Jim Andrews. “Do I think everything went perfectly? No. If we had a drill to where everything went perfectly, we are not going to learn anything, and the goal of this drill is to see where maybe we did not do everything just right.” 

The drill should be a continued learning experience for more than just students. 

“Next year, when we start planning this drill, we are going to address those things (we did wrong)  and when we have the drill next year, we will acknowledge other things we did not do right,” said Chief Andrews.

The drill has been focused on active shooter drills for the past two years. Chief Andrews recommends that while this drill is essential, it is necessary to change it and get an understanding of any situation. 

 “Training is crucial, but a lot of this is relationships and the relationships all of our agencies have with each other,” said Chief Andrews, emphasizing how important it is for nursing students, first responders and local agencies to get the training necessary to handle disasters best. 

“We’re not looking for people that will sit back and be told what to do. We want to train our (nursing) students and our faculty and staff to be ones that, in a situation like this, step up to the plate and take the lead,” said Chief Andrews. 

Despite the limited history of disaster in Habersham County and Piedmont University, students must still understand what to do if a situation occurs. Habersham County’s Police Department highly recommends students use “See Something Say Something,” a reporting app, to notify local first responders of any safety concerns.