Category: Neighborhood groups

Building Emergency Response Teams

Seconds count in a real emergency!

We’ve spent a lot of time covering the circumstantial and situational issues . . . the reasons for (and the methodology of) personal preparations. And we’ve alluded to the benefits of cooperative action with neighbors and co-workers. From here on we will be focusing on ways to get others involved with the objective being to build teams . . . not just on paper.

Why Teams are Important

By way of laying the groundwork – the “why” teams are important – let’s look at some of the realities:

First, In a real emergency, your (or your neighbor’s) life may well hang in the balance with only minutes to spare — and official help may be hours, days or too many minutes away. For the critical moment, it’s just you and your neighbors.

Second, would you (or they) know what to do? Here’s where training, rehearsal and pre-incident planning can make the difference between life or death.

Third, it’s important to take personal responsibility in building an emergency supply of food, water and medicines for you, your family and your pets. That goes without saying. But if you are the only resident building your emergency plan, how safe are you really? Are you willing to share . . . or prepared to shoot your neighbors because they don’t have emergency supplies? A lot depends, of course, on where you live or work and the kind of neighbors and/or co-workers you have.

Fourth, helping each other through trying times is characteristic of a civilized society and Americans have a proud history of standing together.

Fifth, a real team organization has organized and planned for likely contingencies. And each member of the team knows what to do without waiting for a consensus of good Samaritans to direct him or her.

Focus on the Team, not the Plan

There are other reasons for building an effective Emergency Response Team, but these are the big ones. And when we talk about a Survival or Emergency Plan, we’re decidedly NOT talking about a bulky document that covers every possible contingency.

(If you work for a large corporation, you probably know what we’re referring to here. There is a tendency in corporate circles to build a plan that is measured in its bulk! And, of course, nobody reads it!)

Next time, we’ll talk about the obstacles to building a team.

We have had some experience with obstacles!

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. You can find all the CERT Team articles by clicking on CERT in the skills-building section, in the column to the right.

It could have been so much worse.

We had an emergency in our neighborhood this last week. Didn’t fall into the category of widespread disaster, but we are all still shaking our heads about “what could have been” if it had been a windy day…

A total loss

One of our elderly neighbors called AAA because her car wouldn’t start. She hadn’t used it in months. Well, AAA came, started the car, and suggested that the owner let it run “for a while.”

An hour later, she had fallen asleep. And that car, parked right alongside the house, was beginning to smoke.

Quick action by observant neighbors.

When the mailman came by, the car and carport were engulfed in smoke, and flames were licking at the house itself. About that time neighbors saw the flames, too, and called the fire department. The mailman pounded on the door and pulled the shaky and confused resident right out into the street. She was safe.

Meanwhile, the house was burning.  Three different fire stations responded to the 911 calls, as did a number of police cars.

By the time First Responders arrived…

By the time they arrived, CERT members had taken in the homeowner and called her relatives, and were clearing the streets of gawkers in order to allow ready access to the First Responders.  CERT training made it easy for these neighbors to act promptly and with authority!  The CERT team members didn’t save the house — even the fire department couldn’t do that — but the neighborhood was definitely safer as a result of their actions.

Action Item: Make sure all your cars are properly maintained, exercised on a regular basis, and always have at least a half-tank full of fresh gas in case you need to evacuate. This simple discipline will save your investment, and may well save your life.

Since we live in California, we are always thinking about earthquakes.  But the recent heat wave in the middle and eastern part of the US. reminds us that there are other emergencies, too – and they can be just as deadly.

Heat waves and storms go together.

Big differences between temperatures and air pressure create climate “events” that bring down electric power lines.  That stops electricity to refrigerators, to air conditioners, to fans. That’s what happened last week and that’s what killed some people.

Could they have done things differently?

Some of them could probably have found safer places to ride out the storm.  But most had no defense against the ultimate killer – the heat!

At night, no electricity means no light.  Unless you have flashlights or lanterns.  You can’t read, watch TV, cook, or repair things.  You are pretty much stuck where you are, not moving.

During the day, no electricity means no air conditioning. . . for day after day after day, and at night, too.

• At home, you simply swelter.  Meanwhile, all your food goes bad because your freezer and your refrigerator are off.
• Freezers and refrigerators at local stores are off, too, so they run out of supplies very quickly.
• And roads, the lifeline for supplies, may be blocked by downed trees and power lines.

What would YOU have done?

Whether it’s high winds or heavy rain that took out the electric service doesn’t matter.  What does matter is whether people had water.

Water saves people two ways.

1. When it’s hot, you need to drink.  Steadily, and a lot.  You can tell if you’re getting enough if you have to pee often, too.
2. When it’s hot, you can spray or sprinkle yourself (your children and your pets) with water and let evaporation help keep skin temperatures down.

A couple of the people who died were hit by debris from the storm, or crashed because of rain.  But most of the casualties simply succumbed to too much heat and too little water.

Don’t let this happen to you!  Make sure you have water supplies at home and at work and enough to save someone else besides yourself. It’s the simplest preparation of all!

Doomsday Preppers arm themselves for a total breakdown of society.

Protection against whom?

As we watch some of the reality TV programs on “Doomsday Preppers,” we are appalled at the extent to which many people go to arm themselves against anticipated attackers, looters and other lawless elements.  Some of these folks have virtual armories, full of weapons and ammunition they feel they will need to survive in a world gone mad . . . right out of Mad Max or the Postman, with a total breakdown of society!

Well, here at Emergency Plan Guide we’re not really preparing for that extreme situation.  Our objective is to help you and your neighbors prepare for the possible emergency that would be caused by an earthquake, a local or regional weather phenomenon, an industrial accident or even the unlikely event of a major terrorist attack.  You may have to take care of yourself and your family for a few days until adequate help can arrive.

Will there be looting or other lawless activity?

Perhaps.  But are your neighbors likely to pose a serious threat to your safety because they have been caught unaware and starving?  Probably not.

And even if you were to find yourself in a situation where you were to feel threatened, are you prepared to take another person’s life?

We’re not suggesting you shouldn’t prepare for this kind of eventuality.  That’s a decision you have to make for yourself, depending on where you live and other factors.

One way to minimize the risk . . .

What we are suggesting is that there are things you can do to minimize the risk of this happening.  You can distribute information about preparing for emergencies to the homes, apartment complexes and stores in your area.  In fact, the more successful you and your neighbors are in organizing a Community Emergency Response Team in your neighborhood, the more likely your neighboring communities will become interested . . . and at least take personal responsibility for their own preparations.

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

As a quick distinction . . .

• Survivalists plan to use their wilderness skills and ingenuity to live off the land for however long it takes.
• Preppers plan to survive in the aftermath of an emergency thanks to the preparations they have made, using the supplies they have assembled.