Red Cross volunteers, along with several local, state and federal agencies, participated in the annual exercise for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program in Pueblo. The exercise is mandated by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
to make sure that the people of Pueblo County are properly protected should there be a chemical emergency at the Pueblo Chemical Depot.
The Red Cross opened a mock shelter to demonstrate capabilities to support a large-scale emergency. Volunteers were evaluated and rated on their performance by exercise evaluators from FEMA and DHS.
Nearly 40 Red Cross volunteers from Pueblo and Colorado Springs participated in the shelter exercise. Richard Garcia, Mass Care Lead for the Red Cross of Southeastern Colorado coordinated the exercise response. “We wanted to make this a training within a training,” Garcia said. “We have a lot of new volunteers that have never been involved with sheltering.” Garcia organized the training so that the experienced volunteers would provide direct training to the newer volunteers on several topics. Four training stations were set up and each was assigned a trainer. The volunteers then rotated through each station to get some hands-on training.
During the exercise students from Colorado School Districts 60 and 70 were bussed to the shelter to 
serve as “shelter residents”. Many of the students were given roles to play that would also provide experience for the Red Cross team.
Colorado Baptist Disaster Relief provided lunch for more than 150 exercise participants to demonstrate how Red Cross works with partners during an emergency. Members of the Pueblo Amateur Emergency Radio Service (ARES) were also on hand to demonstrate their communication skills.
Overall the exercise was a success and evaluators had great things to say about the Red Cross performance. More photos from this event can be seen at this link.