Mt. Bachelor hosts disaster drill to test ‘What if?’

It was a windy day on Mt. Bachelor as multiple agencies participated in a large-scale disaster drill.

“For the first time in a decade, we’re simulating a major disaster in our base area,” said resort spokesman Drew Jackson.

A couple dozen people were involved. Actors playing victims, real police, fire crews, ski patrol and the media took part, all playing a vital role.

“Mt. Bachelor of course — we’re the first ones on the scene initially so we’re the first responders,” Jackson said.

The “accident” happened at 11 a.m. Police, fire and media arrived about 25 minutes later. Mt. Bachelor’s medical lead planned it that way, because it would realistically take that much time for them to assemble.

At that point, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s office took over incident command.

“We’re on the scene of a vehicle crash in the parking lot of the West Village Lodge,” said Sgt. Nathan Garibay, the agency’s emergency services manager.

In this scenario, a truck plowed into a line of unassuming skiers and snowboarders.

“Depending on the day, there can be 10,000 people here scattered around the mountain so there’s a lot of potential for things to happen,” Jackson said.

Staff members knew the drill would be taking place, but were not told what the specific situation

“We don’t know everything,” Jackson said.”we’re going to have to roll with what happens as it happens.”

The drill lasted one hour and 45 minutes. It might not have been flawless, but practice makes perfect.

“The ultimate goal is to improve going forward,” Jackson said.

After the drill, agencies debriefed and talked about what they did well, and how they can improve.