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The Salvation Army Santa Fe, New Mex., corps participated in an airplane crash exercise recently, assisted by emergency disaster service (EDS) coordinators from the Western Territory.
Majors John and Dee Webb, Santa Fe corps officers, worked closely with Santa Fe Emergency Manager James Leach, the fire department, airport management, hospital staff, and the Red Cross in the planning and execution of the exercise.
Abed-Nego Perez, former TSA divisional secretary for Mexico, who serves as the Hispanic pastor for the Santa Fe Corps, was one of the volunteers who participated as non-English speaking crash victims. John Passerello, assistant EDS coordinator, and Major John Webb participated as observers for the airport portion of the exercise.
Other participants were Major Dee Webb, Bev Passerello (assistant EDS coordinator), members of the Santa Fe Corps advisory board, Albuquerque Coordinator Captain George Beauchamp, and staff.
One of the highlights of the exercise was the close cooperation and partnership between the Army and the Red Cross, who have agreed to work closely together in the future in disaster response operations. As a result of the exercise, Webb will seek to establish operational agreements with Santa Fe City and County emergency management and the Red Cross.
Due to the Webbs’ response to the Los Alamos fire disaster last year, John is now the vice-chair of a new state VOAD (Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster) in New Mexico and has recently organized a Santa Fe VOAD.
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