First responders turn Prattville school into training ground

PRATTVILLE, Ala. (WSFA) - Prattville first responders turned Prattville Junior High School into a training ground Friday.

The scenario involved a wall collapse due to a storm. Students and teachers volunteered to play roles of being injured or dead.

It was all part of the drill to get a feel should the unthinkable happen at the school.

Principal Janice Stockman says the school conducts some type of mass casualty exercise every two years.

“A natural disaster with fatalities is not something we’ve done before," said Stockman.

More than a dozen first responders answered the call and tended the most seriously injured such as a young man who was impaled.

The injured were carted away while those who didn’t survive, according to the script, were simply covered up.

“I took it pretty seriously because I understand people still need practice or they may fail," said volunteer Angelina Smith, who will be a freshman this year at Prattville High School.

Stockman says she was very pleased with how things went.

“That was high quality stuff," one school administrator told the volunteers.

“I was very satisfied. It gives us an opportunity to work with other agencies," said Prattville Fire Department Battalion Chief Joshua Brown.

Prattville Junior High School averages around 1,000 students per year.

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