Summer 2000   Volume 2   Number 2

The Connection newsletter is comprised of articles written by the people from around the Country who are involved in community preparedness on a daily basis.

TRANSITIONING TO ICS POSITIONS
Frank Lucier, Editor

The rudimentary structure of the Incident Command System (ICS) can be found as far back as the Roman Empire; whose armies had supply units (Logistics) which allowed them to spread across the known world. Military Staffs have always used a form of Incident Command and today militaries through the world use it. ICS was formalized within the United States military in the last century....Go to Article

CERT "CHAMPIONS" 
Sam Isenberger 
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute
Greetings from Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland.  I am in the fortunate position of receiving good news from CERT "Champions" from around the country...Go to Article

FAMILY RADIO SERVICE, AN OPTION FOR NEIGHBORHOOD EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Adapted By Virginia ARES / RACES, Inc. from original material by Dick Rawson, N6CMJ (SVECS Handbook) and Doug Web, of the Personal Radio Steering Group
Not everyone can afford a cellular telephone for emergency communications.  Those who can should be aware that cellular or PCS may not "always work" during an emergency when everyone tries to use them at once and the system becomes "overloaded."  ....Go to Article

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HAM RADIOS?
Patricia Yuen  Program Coordinator, San Francisco Fire Department
This is a story about a gentleman in his late 50’s, who introduced himself to me with a smile, ten months ago,  at a Chinatown Disaster Preparedness Conference.  He asked me,  “What do you know about HAM radios?....Go to Article

MITIGATION ACTIONS BY THE COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
Deputy Chief Joe Daly Edgewater, Florida Fire/Rescue
The placement of blue markers in the roadway to indicate the location of the hydrants has been a great help to the Edgewater Fire Department. The markers enable the responding fire units to see the location of the hydrant as soon as they turn into the fire block, which increase the effectiveness of the size-up...Go to Article

CERT PROFILE
Wendy Dippel, CERT Member, Edgewater, Florida
You have heard of them. You see them from time to time running in the streets like ants with their orange hard hats, orange tee shirts and their steel-toed boots. They are not playing games. They have given of their time and their monies to practice, qualify in CPR and study Search and Rescue Tactics and maybe someday save your life...Go to Article

FREMONT FIRE DEPARTMENT CERT PROGRAM AND THE HEARING IMPAIRED
Laura Baggett, Fremont Fire Department, Volunteer District Coordinator Niles
At a California OES BayNET conference held by Carrie Barnecut, exchanging thoughts and ideas with others involved in similar types of training, I was quite surprised when asked how we integrated the hearing impaired into the main stream CERT program.....Go to Article

2002 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES
Bob Fowler, Utah Emergency Management
It’s not a matter of if anymore, the Winter Games are coming to Utah and in about 560 days!  The games will place great pressure on the communities and on the emergency management system as well. Utah’s Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management (CEM) dynamic Director, Lt. Col. Earl Morris, recently returned from Sidney, Australia, and site of the 2000 Summer Games....Go to Article

EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM MAINTENANCE: 
EXERCISE SWAPS!
Rachel Jacky, Community Emergency Services Manager, Portland (OR) Fire Bureau
Community emergency response teams—in neighborhoods, schools or businesses— always benefit from realistic practice.  It’s those field exercises that help maintain and improve the skills of individual members and strengthen their teamwork.....Go to Article

SEMINOLE COUNTY CERT TRAINING AT WINTER SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL 
Jacqueline Perry, C.E.R.T. Program Developer, Seminole County, Florida 
It is 1:14pm and your children are in school, the safest place … you think.  One minute ago a tornado devastated a residential area, side swiping the local high school....Go to Article

THE BIRTH OF CERT IN JOHNSON COUNTY KANSAS
Capt. Bill Schneider Olathe Fire Department, Kansas
This is the first part in a series of articles that will show the progression of the implementation of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) in Johnson County, Kansas....Go to Article

MARTIN COUNTY CERT
Keith Holman, CERT Coordinator, Martin County, Florida
Martin County started CERT training in 1998 AND since that time we have trained 120 persons representing 22 neighborhoods. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene we used CERT members to deliver fliers detailing the method for the residents to access individual assistance....Go to Article

CONTINUING EDUCATION AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES CRITICAL TO MAKING CERTS A VALUABLE RESOURCE TO THE COMMUNITY.
Diane Middleton, CERT Coordinator, 
Whatcom County Emergency Management, Bellingham, Washington 
Communities cannot order up a disaster to keep their citizens’ disaster response skills honed.  We wouldn’t even want the ability to do so.  In the absence of the “real thing”, however, communities should provide opportunities for CERT teams to practice their newly acquired skills....Go to Article

WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN DISASTERS
Dr. Elaine Enarson, Ph.D, Independent Sociologist
Reaching Women and Children in Disasters: What are the issues and how can we best address them? Over 70 practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers from North America and around the world met recently in Miami to try to answer these questions....Go to Article

LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT CERT TRAINING
Stacy Gerlich, Los Angeles City Fire Department
Since 1987, the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Disaster Preparedness Unit has been teaching community groups, business organizations and government agencies, how to prepare for the event of a disaster. The CERT program offers its participants the opportunity of learning lifesaving techniques to aid them in the event of a natural disaster...Go to Article

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