Sarasota conducts tornado emergency drill | News

SARASOTA, Florida -- "Charlie one, Charlie one, Bravo one come in!" barks a resident of Isles of Palmer Ranch into a hand-held radio.

This Sarasota County neighborhood is responding to an emergency. Ambulances and fire trucks roll down the streets.

A tornado has touched down and people are injured.

"One, two, three," counts a paramedic, while lifting a woman who has a metal spike in her forehead.

"Oh, I don't want to do this," Tova Fisch moans.

Before you get too worried about Fisch, this is just a drill. But hundreds of people involved, including law enforcement, medical experts, and community volunteers are taking it seriously. 

"This community is trying to stay prepared, so we can survive that kind of very serious weather condition," says Paul Hersey, a member of the Community Emergency Response Team or CERT. 

While simulated tornado action takes place at several spots in the county, at the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Sarasota, people from dozens of agencies coordinate the drill. 

"We simulated power outages, we simulated roofs being torn off nursing homes. Some ugly stuff that could really happen during these events," says County Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane. 

It's a learning experience for everyone involved. When it's all over, participants will review what went right and what went wrong. 

The county typically runs one of these big emergency exercises once a year. They want to be ready for the real thing. 

As for Fisch, she's thankful this was just a drill and she goes home minus the spike, but with a story to tell. 

"My grandchildren are really going to look forward to see that picture of their grandmother," she says with a laugh.