NATCHEZ &045; The sounds and smells seemed real &045; until one of the &uot;corpses&uot; lifted her head.

Still, a mock disaster drill at Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wednesday was enough of a real-life lesson for members of a new Community Emergency Response Team.

&uot;I’m proud of the way they responded,&uot; said Don Winter, disaster services chairman for Red Cross, who has been an instructor for the CERT group.

&uot;They started triaging and treating patients before the first ambulance got here.&uot;

The drill &045; which simulated a terrorist car bombing next to a school bus &045; was a chance for the volunteers to work with Natchez police and fire departments, Adams County Civil Defense and the Adams County Sheriff’s Office.

Many of the CERT volunteers are from Alcorn State University and Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and the disaster drill took place on the schools’ campus.

From the blast of the &uot;bomb&uot; to the smell of smoke, the drill stuck close to reality. And volunteers said seeing the &uot;victims&uot; &045; students from Natchez High &045; on the bus was difficult.

After the bombing, CERT volunteers had to get on the bus, assess the situation and begin removing victims.

Some of the students played corpses, while volunteers led others across the campus drive to await treatment.

Local ambulance companies also arrived on the scene to help the victims, and Red Cross disaster volunteers manned a station as well.

&uot;This was our first time,&uot; said CERT volunteer Audrey Chatman, who works at Alcorn. &uot;I think it went well.&uot;

&uot;They prepared us pretty well,&uot; said Dee Ray, another volunteer who works at Co-Lin.

Adams County Civil Defense Director George Souderes said the drill went well. &uot;We had a few little bumps, but we expect that,&uot; he said.

Souderes said the CERT team’s work is valuable to the community’s safety.

&uot;Without these first responding CERT teams, we really don’t know what’s going on in an area,&uot; he said.

In an actual disaster, Winter said, CERT teams and volunteers would likely be able to respond first, especially in a rural area.

&uot;The whole concept is to have people in the community trained,&uot; he said.