The Connection community disaster preparedness newsletter

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.
CHANGES IN ATTITUDE, CHANGES IN LATITUDE *Frank Lucier, Editor* In his research paper, Disaster Related Social Behavior: Summary of 50 Years of Research Findings, Dr. E. L. Quarantelli of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware states that “When disasters occur, individuals as a whole react very well...prosocial behavior predominates with, for example, the great bulk, up to 90% plus of search and rescue, being undertaken by those civilian persons around the impacted site.”...Go to Article
	COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS’ RESPOND *Sam Isenberger FEMA's Emergency Management Institute* Unfortunately, over the past months there was Hurricane Isabel as well as wildfires, tornadoes and floods that struck communities across the country. Following these events, there were reports about actions taken by CERTs to prepare for these hazards and to assist emergency responders and neighbors....Go to Article
	CERT BEST PRACTICES SHARED AT FEMA-SPONSORED SEMINAR *Thomas R. Hirt,* *FEMA's Emergency Management Institute* About 100 participants from state, local and tribal governments shared their Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) best practices on Sept. 2 and 3, 2003, at the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in Emmitsburg, Md. EMI is overseen by the U.S. Fire Administration, which is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The meeting was the first of what may become annual FEMA-sponsored CERT seminars...Go to Article
	CERT PLAYS PIVOTAL ROLE IN RECENT SIMI VALLEY FIRES *Bruce Wilson, City of Simi Valley Emergency Services, California* There is always a concern about how those who train will perform during an actual event. We do, after all, hope never to be put to the test. How does that hope measure up to the reality of a call-out? quite well if the recent Simi Valley Fire is any indication. The Simi Valley CERT program had recently undergone significant fundamental changes. (See article "The Life of the Program, this issue). There was some concern about how well things would work in the wake of those changes but they were put to rest almost immediately....Go to Article
	HURRICANE ISABEL AN ICEBREAKER FOR ARLINGTON COUNTY CERT Cynthia L. Kellams, Arlington County CERT, Virginia As the winds from September’s Hurricane Isabel were still gusting, Arlington County (VA) CERT members were activated for the first time ever to distribute ice to citizens who were left without power in the storm’s aftermath. Over half of the county’s trained CERT members responded to the call on Friday, September 19 … an especially great turnout considering many were bailing out their own basements, patching their own roofs, moving fallen trees, and surveying damage to their own properties at the time ... Go to Article
	LA CERT FIRE AFTER ACTION REPORT CERT-LA, Los Angeles CERT, California On Monday morning, October 27, Captain Lee put the Battalion 12, 15 and 17 call-out contacts on standby to activate their teams to help with the evacuation from the Simi Valley fire area. A little later, the CERT members who had agreed to respond to Battalion 15 incidents were notified to report to Mason Park where, among many other jobs, they directed traffic in and out of the park, transported water and supplies to the shelter at Granada Hills High School, provided information to evacuees, and did a supply run to Home Depot to obtain donated masks. During this Fire Disaster... Go to Article
	SCHOOL SAFETY PLANS GET A SERIOUS TEST *Susan McChesney, West Lake Jr. High School, West Valley City, Utah* October 27, 2003 started out like any other day at West Lake Junior High School in West Valley City, Utah. No one suspected that we would soon have a possibly life and death test of our schools emergency plans. Three years earlier, West Lake was granted money for a new three year program which would place a middle school coordinator in three of the junior high schools in our district. West Lake Jr. was one of those schools. This program, know as Rock Solid, is a drug, alcohol and violence prevention program with a strong emphasis on school safety... Go to Article
	CERT RESCUE IN FLORIDA Mark R. Tobert, FPEM, Preparedness & Response Coordinator, Hernando County Emergency Management, Florida A deluge of rain soaking I-75 Aug. 1 made it slow going for Rob Robison. The burning mini-van in front of him didn't make his trip go any faster either. Robison was traveling from Seminole, Fla. back to Brooksville in the pouring rain, while thunder rolled, forks of lightning stabbed the sky, and thick black clouds of smoke billowed from under the van's hood. When the van, driven by a couple on their way to Delaware, pulled over onto the highway's shoulder, Robison did too, parking upwind from the burning vehicle...Go to Article
	TOP OFF #2 - A VIEW FROM THE RUBBLE David Hoffard-Blaauw, Snohomish County, CERT Instructor and member of the Community Emergency Leadership Council, Washington A beautiful sunny day in Seattle was rocked by an explosion. Metro buses lie overturned amid piles of reinforced concrete rubble. An eerie silence descended for a moment as the shock sunk in. Then it began – the cries and screams of the victims. I lay amongst broken concrete and twisted rebar. The back of my hands and arms were blackened and charred. A nearby car began to burn, sending acrid black smoke into the sky and into my eyes. People with horrific injuries began to emerge, one by one, in total shock and disbelief; stumbling over glass and twisted metal. I looked down and found someone’s bloodied, severed arm lying on the ground next to me. I was unable to get up; paralyzed by the horror surrounding me. Disbelief and fear overwhelmed me... Go to Article
	I-4 Bridge MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL, MULTI-AGENCY DRILL *Lisa Peterson, Seminole County CERT Association, Inc., Florida* Seminole County CERT was asked to provide Rehab assistance during the Joint Agency training of EMS/Fire/Rescue and Law Enforcement drill from July 11^th to July 13^th, 2003. CERT gladly accepted. The night before the drill, CERT volunteers loaded up most of the equipment into vehicles to prepare for the next days events. Arriving at the Public Safety Building at 7am the following morning, the final preparations were made and we were ready to go. Rehab arrived on scene around 8:30am and prepared to unload and set up the equipment. We were in full view of the mock scene. A couple of CERT members also became the victims for the drill. Dressed in helmets and life jackets, they proceeded to the scene.... Go to Article
	THE LIFE OF THE PROGRAM Bruce Wilson, City of Simi Valley Emergency Services, Florida As with any organization, church, PTA, scouts, anything, there is a cadre of 20 percent of the members who do 80 percent of the work. The same is true with CERT, as far as I'm able to see. I inherited the CERT program here in Simi Valley, California, in 1999. There was a database chock-full of names of those who had been trained since the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The protocol was for me to graduate two CERT classes per year, which would be trained by the Ventura County Fire Department. I was also tasked with organizing two refresher classes per year, also taught by Ventura County Fire, so that those already trained would be re-trained at least once a year. :..Go to Article
	SENIOR CERT VOLUNTEERS IN COLORADO *John Bruce, Mesa County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Homeland Defense Project Manager, Grand Junction, Colorado* We have just graduated one more team of CERT volunteers and this brings the total volunteers to approximately 50. We continue to meet once each month to practice skills and develop new skills. Currently, we are studying the effects of nuclear and biological weapons and learning appropriate responses if these events should occur. Identification badges have been designed, laminated and issued. The badges contain the name, a photo and the driver's license number and each badge identify the individual as a volunteer....Go to Article
	THE PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROLE IN MMRS & CERT Deputy Chief Les Caid, Tucson Fire Department, Arizona The Public Safety and Emergency Services Institute of Pima Community College will coordinate the training portion of the MMRS. The Institute will also develop a curriculum in support of the future needs of emergency responders to terrorist incidents. The College will offer training, both on an as-needed basis and will also offer classes leading to professional certification. Additionally, college-level course credit for First Responders are available. The Public Safety and Emergency Services Institute of Pima Community College was established to provide training and educational opportunities to a variety of public safety-related agencies. The Institute helps provide the public safety professions with well-trained and well-educated professionals who can work in concert with their communities to create a safe and healthy environment...Go to Article
	WINE COUNTY CERT Neal O'Haire, Emergency Services Director, Napa County, California After the Napa Earthquake of September 2000 a small cadre representing the Napa Valley Community College, Napa County OES, Calistoga OES, American Canyon Fire, and the City of Napa Fire Department decided to implement a viable countywide community emergency response team training program that covers disaster preparedness and mitigation. The goal of this program would be to train 1200 local citizens over 5 years in the national CERT Curriculum and simple hazard mitigation techniques for home and business. This would train 1 percent of our population in these critical skills and allow them through neighborhood and business organizations to become peer advocates for mitigation and preparedness....Go to Article
	NEW JERSEY’S CITIZEN CORPS INITIATIVES *Joseph Geleta, New Jersey State Citizens Corp Council, New Jersey* In the State of New Jersey, Governor James E. McGreevey has embraced the President’s Citizen Corps initiative. He established the New Jersey State Citizen Corps Council to facilitate Citizen Corps activities throughout the state. Thanks to the efforts of Governor McGreevey and the State Council, New Jersey has 94 local Citizen Corps Councils established. Working together, our goal is to make the Citizen Corps Program a success in this state. Our next state initiative will involve the National “Make a Difference Day” campaign...Go to Article
	YOUTH PROGRAM PLANNED *Walter M. Duzzny, Director, Mahoning County EM A, Ohio* Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency, the lead agency for Citizens Corps programs in the county, after experiencing a successful year developing a local interest in the Medical Reserve Corp and volunteers in Police Service, will expand its Community Emergency Response Team training by targeting youth. The mainstay of the program for neighborhood awareness and emergency skills will continue, with training scheduled for 2004 at the Agency Emergency Operations Center....Go to Article
	BREAKFAST WITH THE FIREFIGHTERS Cindy Metcalf, Boca Raton Fire Rescue Services, Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton CERT currently has more than 330 members. As the program grows, fire fighters and CERT members alike have been asking to become a more integrated unit. Each group wonders about training, scope of responsibility in a disaster, and transfer of scene command, just to name a few. In response to all the concerns, Boca Raton CERT, led by FF Frank Correggio, has begun a new training program in which all fire fighters learn about CERT and their responsibilities. Phase 1: Firefighters receive an overview of CERT goals, training and role in a disaster. Phase 2: CERT members are invited to have breakfast at the fire station located in their zone. This allows CERT members to meet and talk with the fire personnel...Go to Article
	CITIZEN CORPS: VOLUNTEERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE *Tim D. Mosier, Director, Sedalia-Pettis County EMA, Missouri* In response to the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the Citizen Corps program during his 2002 State of the Union Address. Currently, the basic core components of the initiative are Volunteers in Police Services, Community Emergency Response Team or CERT, Neighborhood Watch Programs and Medical Reserve Corps. However, these programs are merely fundamental building blocks, a beginning, if you will. Saying that, where does Citizen Corps go from here? Frankly, there are no “clear-cut, cookie-cutter” answers. The course and direction Citizen Corps programs will follow are pivotal to the needs of the community, e.g., densely populated metropolitan cities versus sparsely populated rural regions...Go to Article
	CERT VOLUNTEERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR COMMUNITIES! *Adam Hutton, Olathe Daily News* If Homeland Security Undersecretary Michael Brown had the power to do anything to get more Americans to volunteer for Community Emergency Response Team training, he said he would clone Olathe's Rita Hoffman. Hoffman, Olathe's emergency management coordinator, stood with about 40 emergency response volunteers when Brown visited Olathe Thursday to announce that President Bush's budget will include $19 million to support Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) programs...Go to Article

	*The Connection is part of NIUSR's Vision 2010. It is intended to support community disaster preparedness efforts through the sharing of information and ideas.*
	It has been it has been compiled, edited and formatted by North American Emergency Management to support and encourage community preparedness programs.

*Previous editions*
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