Volunteers test their emergency preparedness plans

With the Lake Fire raging in the San Bernardino mountains, there couldn’t be a better time to test emergency preparedness.

The Amateur Radio Relay League held their annual field day Saturday in Palm Springs, simulating emergency situations.

“We’re a few miles from the San Andreas fault. When that goes telephones are gonna go first, cellphones will go second. How do you talk to people? You better hope there’s a bunch of radio amateurs around to pick up the pieces and relay to fire and police,” said Rick Fay, one of the amateur radio volunteers.

In a 27-hour emergency simulation, volunteers practice deployment and test out equipment and plans.

Members of the Desert Radio Amateur Transmitting Society practiced communicating with others across the country.

“If we have needs in the valley, like we need more water, need more cots, we can take that and send it out to somebody outside our immediate area,” Desert Radio Amateur Transmitting Society President Glenn Morrison said.

Volunteers are learning how to use different radios in the event of a disaster when this is the only line of communication.

“For me it’s a learning process. I got sat down at a radio I’d never seen before and let’s start learning to use it. It’s a lot of listening and learning to communicate,” Fay said.

This year the Palm Springs Fire Department included Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, volunteers in their field day.

“… these volunteers have not only taken the 20-hour CERT class but they’ve decided to step up and volunteer with the city,” Emergency Services Coordinator Anjila Lebsock said.

Volunteers learned about setting up shelters and how to cook emergency meals.

Some volunteers even taking a break from working the Lake Fire to help with Saturday’s event.

“Some of our volunteers were actually up on the fire in Morongo Valley area working the shelter, so they came down off the shelter to participate in this to help those who have not been in a shelter environment learn those skills,” Lebsock said.

The current wildfire serving as a reminder for why these volunteers are so important.