Tag: CERT training

A Thank You Is Due!

I think I know why people become survivalists: paranoia, healthy skepticism, sturdy pioneering genes. But what makes people JOIN IN WITH NEIGHBORS to prepare for emergencies?

After all, willingness to prepare to help others is really quite different from preparing to protect yourself.

So a couple of weeks ago I started a campaign to find out. I sent out a broadcast message to all the people on my Emergency Plan Guide list, and posted an inquiry on one of my groups at LinkedIn:

“What drives you to join CERT?”

I want to thank all the people who responded! And for those who saw the message but didn’t respond, I thought it would be worthwhile to share

Some of the answers I got.

Here are the themes that came through. Perhaps you’ll discover some that describe why YOU are interested and active.

1. Driven/shocked into action by news coverage

One person wrote that when he saw what happened after Hurricane Katrina hit, he could no longer stand by and watch another disaster go down. Joining CERT seemed the best way he could offer up his assistance. I’ve heard the same thoughts expressed by people who watched Hurricane Sandy come  . . .and stay and stay.

2. Living the volunteer lifestyle

I heard from California, New Jersey and Virginia about people taking CERT training and continuing their support for CERT as part of a lifelong commitment to volunteerism. Every one of these people volunteers in other areas of their lives, too. And as one reader put it, “Those who give back are almost always the Good people in town.”

3. Looking for camaraderie

The teamwork that characterizes many CERT activities is missing in a lot of lives these days. Ex-military, ex-boy scout, retired sales manager — once you’ve experienced the satisfaction of leading and being part of a team, it holds a powerful attraction. CERT fits the leadership/teamwork bill.

4. Fear of not knowing what to do

Outsiders tend to link CERT only with natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. What we discover is that CERT training tends to make people aware of how to respond to a whole range of emergencies:  flooded streets, active shooter events, household fires, natural gas leaks, after-disaster psychological trauma, you name it. And if you have a particular concern, you can bring it up and get unofficial advice, for sure.

5. CERT as a requirement

I heard from one person that CERT was required for a particular Boy Scouts of America certification, and from another person that his employer told him to get certified. Works for me!  (Once you have the training, you aren’t going to forget it!)

6. Attracted by the gear

CERT trainees come out of the course with some basic stuff: a bag, helmet, flashlight, vest, goggles, dust mask. Most graduates immediately begin to add to their kit: better flashlight, a multi-tool, a helmet lamp. The ultimate, of course, is having a radio. While official CERT teams are assigned radios for events, even neighborhood groups (like ours) set up entire radio networks with FRS/GMRS radios (walkie-talkies). Some people love becoming experts with the technology!

7. Make the community a better/safer place

Only some people realize that the REAL first responders are your neighbors. These people want to spread more knowledge, more awareness and more “empowerment” as a way to improve the community. (I didn’t get a scientific response, but what I did get on this topic came from young people and older people, not from “people in the middle.” Does this mean anything?)

Did you find your reason in this list?

Or are you committed to preparing for another reason altogether? Let me know!

My goal is to use this valuable information to reach more people in my own community – and perhaps you can use it to reach out to your neighbors, too. The more we can share good ideas, the safer we all will be.

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

A New Piece of Gear For Your Kit!

If you’re in charge of putting on neighborhood CERT meetings, you know what a challenge it is!

A good meeting pumps up the energy and attracts new members. A poor meeting – well, you can lose members overnight!

So searching for good meeting ideas goes on . . . and on.

Over the past 10 years, Joe and I have been either on the front lines or behind the scenes, planning meetings for our neighborhood group. That’s well over 100 meetings!

It recently occurred to me that buried in my computer is a treasure trove. I dug in, pulled together my notes, and wrote up some of the ideas for meetings that we’ve held successfully.

From the trenches . . .!

Our best ideas have now been assembled into a 55 page ebook called CERT Meeting Ideas.

The ideas seem to have worked. We’ve had as many as 60 volunteer members in our community, and our teams have responded to five major emergencies (mostly construction related). We have received awards from the Mayor and local First Responders for our efforts.

What makes a good meeting?

Now, Joe and I are not professionally trained CERT instructors. But we know from business experience that good meetings have to have some valuable content, a delivery method that’s effective for your group, and, of course, a setting that works for both.

That’s what we’ve tried to put into every meeting.

Content is easy.

When it comes to emergency planning, there’s plenty of content. You can just page through the training manual and come up with stuff to learn more about on every page.

But we have learned, also from our business experience, that people resist being “taught.”

What they seem to want is to “experience” an activity so that it reinforces appropriate behavior in response to an emergency!

So it’s the delivery method that’s the bigger challenge.

Over our years of providing training, we have tried all kinds of methods, with these topping the list.

• We have had guest speakers, and guest speakers with power point slide shows.
• Neighbors have volunteered to get up and “show and tell” about a particular piece of emergency equipment.
• We’ve watched videos featuring official CERT groups, professional industry association members and product manufacturers.
• Getting outside onto the street, practicing finding and reporting on “emergencies,” is a lot of fun for active volunteers.
• Kicking back in a social setting is also essential.

Finally, the setting has to work.

Our group has met in a variety of meeting rooms, in a temporary construction trailer, outside in a parking lot or on the street, and in people’s living rooms and driveways.

So, if you, like us, are looking for more ideas . . .

Based on discussions with some CERT alumni, and comments from online Facebook and LinkedIn groups, it seems that other trainers are searching, too.

If you’re responsible for planning meetings, I think you’ll like the detail. I list everything you’ll need and some places to find those speakers and that equipment. I describe how some activities were particularly well-received, and how some took some easing into!

The book isn’t free – but at $10 it’s close to free, and we will use the money to continue with more of our volunteer efforts. Find out more here.

Thanks,

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

The first few minutes following a disaster (earthquake, fire, etc.) are the most critical for saving lives and minimizing disabling injuries. Historically, neighbors are the first on the scene and willing to help.

The unfortunate reality

Unfortunately, most communities are not organized and residents are not sure how to react.

There is no time for training at this stage and people who are not pre-trained may follow the wrong instincts!

When pre-planning counts

Contrast this scenario with a community where residents have at least some basic training in how to react to save lives, turn off gas and electricity, etc. And, since phone service is likely to be interrupted, consider the value of knowing how to communicate within the disaster area, using inexpensive walkie-talkies.

This acute aftermath is followed by a period of post-disaster survival, which lasts until official help arrives . . . which, in the case of a major earthquake event, could be a number of days or weeks. More pre-planning is required to be sure you have enough water, food and medicine on hand for all members of the household (including pets) for at least 10 days, and preferably longer.

Where to get training

All things considered, advance “Community Emergency Response Team” (CERT) planning and training – which is offered at no cost by many cities and counties – can mean the difference between life and death for you and your pets.

And, it’s equally important to you to have your neighbors prepared as well. You can’t be expected to provide food and water (much less medicines) for the whole neighborhood.

It’s much easier to help neighbors prepare in advance than it is to turn them away after the fact . . . especially if they’re bigger than you are!

Here’s a quick 2 minute video that emphasizes the importance of training: Who Can You Really Count On In An Emergency?

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. This is a good article to share if you have someone you care about who hasn’t done any planning!

I mentioned in my last post that we had staffed a table at a local neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Faire. (See “Lessons Learned.”)

Well, over the weekend we did some more outreach – this time at our local Chinese grocery store.

Set up in the Parking Lot

This activity was planned by the City’s paid Community Emergency Response Team leaders, who set up tables in front of six different retail locations. We took on the 99 Ranch Market because it’s literally across the street from where we live.

(You’ve heard our mantra before: “The more prepared the people around us, the safer we’ll be in an emergency!”)

The Setting:

This event was completely different from last week’s event. Instead of many tents and tables and a full complement of police cars and fire trucks, we had a lone table in the middle of the busy grocery store parking lot. Instead of music and balloons and professional demonstrations, we had eight volunteers, three of whom knew each other. Instead of neighbors out for a comfortable Sunday stroll, we were faced with busy citizens getting their shopping done early in the weekend.

The Advance Guard:

We stationed our most capable people at the two doors of the grocery store, ready to hand out booklets about earthquake preparedness. They greeted shoppers on their way INTO the store, reminding them to visit the main table ON THEIR WAY OUT.  (This, to give them time to think about it.)

Key words that caught people’s attention: “Free. City-sponsored. Sign up for the class.”

The Main Table:

At the main table, people approached guardedly. Generally, they pretended to speak no English. I heard our Chinese -speaking colleagues address people this way: “Hi! Ni hao!”

AFTER they realized we had nothing to sell, suddenly we could switch to English, no problem!

Dried rice emergency rations

We showed CERT training schedules, emergency equipment, and people began to sign up for the next classes. Some people were young, others clearly older. One woman told a long an impassioned story about her experience in the 1999 Taiwan earthquake – which had happened exactly 14 years ago to the day. That earthquake killed 2,400 people.

On Saturday, in about 3 hours, we handed out over 300 earthquake pamphlets and signed up 20 people to take the next CERT training class. We ate Chinese “donuts” (fried batter, no sugar). We laughed at the story about a green hat signifying that a man’s wife is having an affair. (The CERT color is, of course, green!) We all shook our heads at the guy who walked quickly by, and when we called out, “Are you prepared for an earthquake?” he answered, “I don’t live here.”

It was another great outreach event. I was proud to be a part of the team!

(Oh, and we learned that the CERT color isn’t really green.  It’s “emerald.”)

Did you take part in  any special activities during National Preparedness Month?  Leave a comment!

Virginia Nicols
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

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CERT activates for a Missing Child

CERT Volunteers get their assignment. Photo thanks to OC Register and Lt. Bill Whalen of Irvine PD

Two weeks ago, at 9:30 at night, our phone began to ring. At the same time, my cell phone buzzed and a message came up on my computer screen: “This is not a test.”

Irvine police were calling on their volunteer support teams, including CERT, to respond to an emergency – a missing child. He had left home around 7 p.m., and disappeared into the night. The police department had already been searching on foot, with dogs and a helicopter, to no avail.

The police decided to activate their volunteers. According to the newspaper account, the Lieutenant in charge expected about 10 people to show up. They did, within 10 minutes. Within the next two hours, 130 people showed up!

The volunteers included members of both CERT, which is over 600 strong in Irvine, and IDEC, the Irvine Disaster Emergency Communications (amateur radio volunteers). Groups combed the area until 2:15 a.m. Police also used footage from local buses to try to capture information about the boy.

Ultimately, he emerged from a movie theatre in an adjoining town, and prevailed on a helpful citizen to take him home.

Take-aways from the event, according to the police:

• The iAlert system for this community works. (I can attest to that! Read more about the iAlert program here: Severe Weather Alerts)
• Regular trainings for CERT volunteers have kept the group engaged and willing to participate. (Irvine CERT holds regular, nearly monthly, trainings and community service activities.)
• Organizers were hard-pressed to manage the number of volunteers that showed up. It was unprecedented.

A CERT simulation for this exact scenario had been scheduled for later this month, but it was cancelled. The real thing was better than any simulation would have been.

As an aside, here in our local neighborhood, another six people have signed up to take the no-cost city-sponsored CERT training that starts in July. It consists of 8 evening sessions, in which people review basic first aid, search and rescue and disaster psychology. Graduates get the chance to handle tools, practice with a fire extinguisher, and come out with a kit bag full of emergency equipment including flashlight, hard hat, dust mask and gloves.

Action item: Interested in CERT training in YOUR community? Head to the FEMA website’s State Directory at: www.FEMA.gov/community-emergency-response-teams .

A Frenzy of Recent Activity!

If you track the news like I do, you will have seen, over just the past couple of months, literally hundreds of cities announcing “Emergency Preparedness Training” meetings. Some of these meetings are sponsored by the local fire department. Some are held in conjunction with the local college. Some are aimed at children; a few have senior citizens as their target audience. Occasionally even an elected official takes the time to make an appearance.

All this activity seems to have been accelerated by our experiencing one disaster after another over the past few years. Lately, they seem to be happening even more frequently: storms, hurricanes, flooding, explosions, bombings . . . the list goes on.

Will these meetings make any difference?

From the standpoint of community preparedness, I welcome all this attention.

From the standpoint of being a trained Community Emergency Response Team member, I realize that a bunch of one-time meetings are just a start. Just a start! It takes weeks and months for people to change their level of general awareness. It takes them weeks and months and sometimes years to get around to taking even the most elementary precautions or preparations.

Which brings me to the point of this article . . .

Our ten-year track record!

Ready and willing to help

Here in our local community, our CERT team has been actively building a plan, recruiting, training, assembling supplies, working with the local authorities – for nearly 10 years now.

Last week was no exception to our regular efforts. We held one of our annual training exercises. It involved Block Captains “discovering” emergencies located around the neighborhood, then taking the appropriate action and recording what they did.

Afterwards, we all got together with cookies and discussed what people had done, and what they might have done better.

While the “emergencies” were ones we might reasonably expect – a train wreck on the tracks next to one row of homes, an earthquake, a live shooter event, a wild fire requiring evacuation – the responses were also what one might reasonably expect.

The important thing – no one really had to think about what to do! After years of talking and writing articles and inviting neighbors in for coffee and a slide show…after a hundred meetings with as few as three people to more like 60 people in the group, it’s all paying off.

Now that’s progress!

It ain’t easy!

Our local CERT group is having another recruiting drive. It’s an ongoing effort, of course, since people come and go in the neighborhood.

This month we are having a real “recruiting meeting.” Here are some ideas that seem to work to get people there and give them a valuable experience.

Timing – Plan around a disaster.

Frankly, a newsworthy disaster can improve attendance at your meeting. Here in California we say, “Just give me a 3.7 earthquake and we’ll find some more CERT members.”

Even when you have to plan in advance, you will be able to find some recent disasters to feature as part of your recruiting material. (The United States Geological Survey maintains http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/. As I write this, it lists 198 earthquakes as having happened over the past seven days!)

Invite an “expert” speaker.

Yes, having trained and knowledgeable neighbors is appealing. But sometimes a recognized “expert” can be a better draw. We have had good success inviting the local Police Chief, Fire Chief, and particularly people who have actually participated in disaster recovery (in New Orleans, Fukushima, Christchurch) to be the featured speaker for the evening.

Maps, photos, radios — all good recruiting tools.

Give attendees something to do.

Emergency response is all about – response! It’s about being ready to take action, and not hesitating. We find that our meetings are more interesting and more successful if we have an activity that all people in the room can take part in, whether or not they are familiar with CERT. For example:

• Survey the crowd for their ideas of the threats the neighborhood is facing. Record those threats on an easel in the front of the room.
• Pass out maps of the neighborhood (or use an overhead projection). Have people identify where they live and work in relation to high-threat areas like a chemical plant, a railroad track, flood zone, or a high-pressure gas line.
• Have extra emergency radios available for people to hold and try out. Your team members can share with visitors. Go through a drill to replace the batteries, change channels, etc. It will result in pandemonium if not well managed, but people always enjoy it!
• Provide people with resources to take home: a sticker with emergency numbers, an abbreviated emergency supplies list, notice of an upcoming training.
• A raffle is fun if you can organize it.
• And, of course, refreshments are always appreciated. Set them up on a side table and give people a chance to mingle.

Invite people at least twice.

People need to be exposed to your marketing message more than once. (You’ve heard the classic “seven times before people buy” story.) We find that an invitation flyer (sent via email or actually printed and delivered to the doorstep) followed by a shorter reminder just the day before works pretty well. Best is if a neighbor actually says, “Let’s go together. I’ll pick you up.”

What’s the Call to Action?

At the end of the meeting, attendees need to be directed to “take the next step.” There is no fixed rule about what that next step should be; that will depend on your individual group. But a call to action is essential. Without it, you have just wasted your recruiting opportunity!

Joe and I have developed, and continue to develop, tools to make all these recruiting tasks easier and more efficient.  Best way to get them is to subscribe to our Advisories.

Virginia Nicols

Emergency Plan Guide

CERT provides in-person and online training.

As we pointed out in a previous entry, you can access a list of CERT organizations by visiting the Citizen Corps website at http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/ and clicking  on the box that says, “Find nearby CERTs.”  If you don’t find an organization nearby, you can start your own individual CERT training right now, online!

The CERT Basics Course, called IS-317, is made up of six modules (17 lessons). It can be found at  http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/training_mat.shtm#IS317. There is no cost to take the training.

Here is a list of the modules and lessons:

Module 1: CERT Basics

Lesson 1-0: Course Overview

Lesson 1-1: CERT Overview

Lesson 1-2: Family and Workplace Preparedness

Lesson 1-3: CERT Organization

Module 2: Fire Safety

Lesson 2-1: Introduction to Fire Safety

Lesson 2-2: Fire Hazards in the Home and Workplace

Lesson 2-3: Safe Fire Suppression

Module 3: Hazardous Materials and Terrorist Incidents

Lesson 3-1: Introduction to Special Situations

Lesson 3-2: Hazardous Materials Safety

Lesson 3-3: Terrorism and CERT

Module 4: Disaster Medical Operations

Lesson 4-1: Introduction to Disaster Medical Operations

Lesson 4-2: Principles and Guidelines for Victim Care

Lesson 4-3: Disaster Psychology

Module 5: Search and Rescue

Lesson 5-1: Introduction to Light Search and Rescue

Lesson 5-2: Search Operations

Lesson 5-3: Rescue Operations

Module 6: Course Summary

Lesson 6-1: Finishing Up

While this on line training is good and something you want every member of your team to complete at a minimum, nothing can take the place of hands-on training where it is available.

“A Creative Organizer Creates an Organization That Can Function Well Without Him.”  Eric Hoffer (1802 – 1983)

Getting started is always the hardest part of any task because it represents change.  Overcoming inertia requires fortitude as well as vision.

But the old adage that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step holds true in building a CERT group as well.

Step One: Identify leaders in your neighborhood.

There are people who have the ability to grasp the importance of preparation and group action as well as the vision to make it happen.  If you are out and about, and you use some of the questions we brought up in the last post, you will begin to recognize these people.

Step Two: Find sources of training.

Action Item: Invite these potential leaders to meet in a group to discuss the advantages of having a CERT organization in the neighborhood and to start the investigation for local training.

A good place to start is your local fire department, police department and city hall. Does your city have a local Department of Emergency Management?

If so, and it periodically conducts CERT training classes, they are usually jointly funded with FEMA. If no classes are offered by your city, try the county or adjacent cities and/or visit the CERT website at www.CitizenCorps.gov/CERT/ and click on the State Directory. That will tell you the closest CERT organization. Usually, the training is provided over a period of between 25 & 30 hours.

These classes are usually run in 3-hour segments, one or two days a week or on weekends for people who work or reside in the city or county. Courses are also taught on line, but the real benefit is the hands-on experience with things like fire suppression, cribbing and other aspects of light search & rescue.

Step Three: Get your core group CERT trained. 

Your objective is to get a few people (as many as possible) CERT trained as the foundation of your neighborhood group. Ideally, if you can get 6 or 8 people through the training, you have the core group, Eventually, depending on the population density, you will want to double that number since it is unlikely that all of your CERT-trained people will be home at the time of an emergency.

This raises the question, what size group is best?

That depends on the nature of your area . . . such as the number of homes, whether or not you have apartment dwellings, commercial establishments and the physical location of homes, etc. Ideally, a team of a dozen people can handle 40-60 homes. If you have more than that, say 100 or so residences, your group might encompass 25-30 people, split up into teams or divisions.

(Our neighborhood, for example, has 360 homes.  We’ve divided it into six divisions, with a team of 10-12 for each division.)

More to come… 

We’ll get into this in more detail in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, there are things that should be covered before actually structuring the team/s. Identifying the people who can and will participate is the main objective in the beginning.

Note:  If your interest is in building a CERT team at the workplace, check out this Advisory.

Why don’t people want to be part of an emergency response team?

In our years of dealing with emergency planning, at the local or regional level, people tell us — or don’t tell, but reveal — these reasons for not wanting to participate:

• For the most part it’s that they are busy . . . too busy they think to find the time to participate in one more activity.
• Some people are hard wired against joining any group or engaging in any kind of preparation.
• Some people just have a mental block against thinking about “negative” things. (Insurance agents encounter this type of person on a regular basis.)
• Another less lethal version of this attitude is the person who lives in denial.
• Then there is the hard-core procrastinator (this type is our absolute favorite).

How to overcome these obstacles?  The question technique…

While there is no magic bullet for any of these folks, we’ve found that – rather than trying to “sell them” on participating – giving them a list of questions like the following can have a sobering effect on most people with an IQ over 75.

When is a convenient time?

Question #1:  What day and time would be best for you and the safety of your family to schedule a major earthquake? What time would be the least inconvenient?

Question #2:  If you are away from home when an earthquake or other major disaster hits and your house is damaged, who do you expect will check to see if anyone needs rescuing and/or who will turn off the natural gas to prevent fire?

Question #3: If you are trapped underneath a bookcase or under the rubble of your (now former) house and impassable roads are preventing any official help, would you like to have trained CERT neighbors try to rescue you?

(If not, what color body bag would you prefer? They come in white, blue or black and heavy duty models are available for people over 240 lbs.)

Question #4: In the event of a real catastrophic event that lays waste to much of your community, which would you prefer:

a. A bunch of well-meaning neighbors running around in panic mode trying to figure out what to do,       or

b. Trained and organized Community Emergency Response Team Members springing into action according to well-rehearsed tasks for which they have volunteered?

Question #5: Following a widespread disaster, you’re busy at work, trying to save the business that provides you and your family with a livelihood, but you have children at school and an aging parent, one cat, a dog and one Gerbil at home. Can you save the business without knowing your neighbors are looking after the home front until you get there?

Obviously, we could come up with more questions. But the best questions will come from you and the people in your neighborhood who know the actual circumstances.

The point is simply to get people thinking about the consequences of not taking action.

Next, we’ll discuss the first steps in building a neighborhood or workplace CERT group.

Joe Krueger
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S.  Action Item:  If you liked the questions, use them!  Pass them out at work, or share one-by-one via email.  Use them however you want to get the conversation started!