Reports of overturned and wrecked cars in the parking lot of the Ocean Shores Convention Center flooded Facebook throughout the day Friday.

No, it wasn’t a post-apocalyptic dystopian hellscape or even a movie or TV show set for the latest zombiepalooza. West Region Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Care Council held their 2025 EMS Conference in Ocean Shore this past weekend.

Lecture, classroom instruction and practical training included advanced vehicle extrication, drugs, radio communications, traumatic chest injuries, pediatric trauma, burns, hazardous material, mental health and more. Speakers and instructors ranged from doctors and illness experts to fire and rescue personnel.

Greg Perry, the executive director of West Region EMS and Trauma Care Council, said advanced vehicle extrication was a main focus of this year’s conference.

“Friday, one of the main classes we had, the Puyallup Extrication Team, they were able to take 28 of our students and put them in an environment where they cut people out of a car,” Perry said. “They used mannequins instead of real people for safety reasons. That’s why the extended parking lot was covered with all different types of vehicles (donated by Avalon towing). They were upside down, right side up, topped on the other. It gave them a skill to learn how to use the jaws of life, to use spreaders, to use cutters and get people safely out of a vehicle.”

According to Perry, the conference allows first responders to mix with and learn from people with whom they may not get a chance to interact otherwise.

“This is an annual event for us. It provides all the EMTs and paramedics throughout Washington state to come and get some advanced or ongoing training,” Perry said. “It invites those people who might not have the call volume that you see in the larger cities to come and interact with people from other agencies. Not only do they get a chance to interact, but the courses they’re going to attend are going to be very specific about how to perhaps add a little bit more skill to what they’re already doing.”

Perry said this training and education for first responders is critical, especially in remote regions and areas where there is some distance to and from medical facilities.

“We have people from different areas of the state that come in and speak about a specialized thing,” he said. “Our keynote speaker came in from Colorado and talked about how you work in the wilderness. We had a doctor who came in and spoke about burns, because burns can happen anywhere and there’s all types of burns. We have these specialized topics that give people a little bit more insight or a refresher to what they already know to help them as they continue to have experiences in the field.”

Perry added that spending time with personnel from different organizations and agencies goes a long way in building esprit de corps and fosters information sharing.

“Everybody here wants to do a better job. They know they can get a certain amount of ongoing input and critique from their own facility, but when you interact with others, there’s a tremendous level of respect we have for each other,” Perry said. “Whether you’re from a rural site or a big city, whether you’re from a hospital or an ambulance company or fire department, they’re all looking for that camaraderie that helps us share the information.”

And rest assured, Washington’s first responders will be well-prepared for that inevitable zombie outbreak.