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Only a drill 
Fire fighters prepare to lift a volunteer onto a stretcher so she can be transported to the hospital during Thursday’s drill.
Photo by Phil Jankowski
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By PHILIP JANKOWSKI Several men and women were enjoying themselves at the Eastern Williamson County Event Center when tragedy struck Thursday. As they sat on the bleachers, likely taking in a rodeo, the bleachers collapsed, seriously injuring more than 25 people. Blood spattered the bleachers and the air was awash with screams, pained moans and one woman yelling, “What’s going to happen to me?” Thankfully, this horrific incident was only a drill. Several volunteers from Taylor High School, about 40 students and faculty, pretended to be in dire straits Thursday morning to simulate a disaster to test the response of Taylor’s EMS, fire department and medical staff at Johns Community Hospital. Most student volunteers were members of the Health Occupation Students of American, a club for students with interests in the medical field, headed up by THS nurse and health sciences teacher Lisa Vaughan. Students and faculty adorned themselves with fake blood, a mixture of corn syrup, cornstarch and red food coloring, and were assigned various injuries. When EMS responders arrived, the task was up to them to route injuries to various hospitals. EMS responders pretended order airlifts to send the most serious injuries to Brackenridge Hospital, while more stable patients were sent to Johns Community Hospital. Roles were assigned to volunteers, including a pregnant woman and her husband, played by Heather Hegar and Gail Holman respectively. Even a hysterical parent, convincingly played by Jennifer Johnson, was on hand at Johns Community Hospital Emergency Room to cause chaos as she snuck into restricted areas desperately looking for her daughter. The disaster scenario even included a red herring. Taylor Police Department Captain Don Georgens came up with the idea to fake an emergency landing for an aircraft just minutes prior to the 911 calls from the events center. Johns Community Hospital is required to practice two drills annually. By 10:45 a.m., the drill was over. Smiling students now covered with sticky fake blood made their way back to the high school just across the street and medical staff at Johns Community Hospital breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that in the event of a disaster in Taylor, responders will be ready.
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