The 2nd annual county-wide CERT Challenge, held on June 21 in Santa Rosa, was a great success! Once again CERT graduates from all around the county gathered to sharpen their disaster readiness skills through a series of challenges.
The Challenges are designed to provide an opportunity to practice thinking and skills learned in the basic CERT classes, and to learn new skills that CERTs can put to use in a disaster. This year, the stations were:
Hazards: Size up outside and inside; and search for victims inside, one of whom was laying on the other side of a live electrical wire. A few CERTs were 'killed' when they rushed to the victim instead of first shutting off the electricity at the circuit breaker panel.
Cribbing: How would you go about lifting up a big concrete slab without crushing trapped victims or your team members?
Disaster Communications: While some CERTS are already licensed to operate ham radios, not everyone is. This exercise taught the basics of disaster communications protocol using FRS radios (walkie talkies).
Fire: Last year, we put fire out with branches. This year CERTs used soil, shovels and blankets.
Kids and Pets: While not everyone likes kids or pets, in a disaster, we don't have a choice: kids and pets will need to be dealt with. K&P gave CERTs an introduction to this potentially complex part of working a disaster response.
Multi-Casualty Injury (MCI): Triage practice on 'victims' from a paratransit bus 'accident'.
To see a slideshow of photos taken from the day's events, visit http://www.sonomacert.com/events/2008challenge.html
We recently convened a meeting of neighborhood "sparkplugs" - community leaders discussing ideas and anecdotes from their neighborhoods about localized disaster readiness. Big kudos to Darlene the Royal Oaks NERT for their recent successes, including recruting and organizing block captains, communications captains and distributing disaster readiness kits to all Royal Oaks residents.
September is National Disaster Preparedness month! Keep checking back for more information about how we'll be mobilizing to educate the community!
Get real. Get ready!
Prepare Petaluma held a preparation forum in October. The highlights are:
Have an emergency plan that includes communications (a contact outside the area). In an event what will you do? Where will you meet?
Get a to-go kit ready (if you commute, have one at work or in your car). Strap down large furniture (bookcases and TVs). Keep shoes or hard-soled slippers under your bed.
Rex and OSH both have emergency preparations available.
Connect with your neighbors, even if you don’t talk with them now. Just establish a connection. Say hello. Give them your name. If they are vulnerable (disabled, elderly) trade phone numbers. Make a mental note that they may need to be checked on after a large event or during a heat wave. If you’ve done that, you’ve started a NERT (neighborhood emergency response team). Let us know so we can help your neighbors connect with you via this website. There are many NERTs already active in Petaluma!
That’s it. You’re ready. And you’ve made Petaluma a better place to live because being close-knit means we have a safety net rather than chaos and panic. We’re on our own when it happens. We have about 11 firefighters (+ 4 ambulance) on duty at any one time (for 55,000 people), and they will need to address critical concerns. So we can either be a liability or an asset to our community.
Best, Tiffany Renée
Cell/Digital Phone Emergency Number
In Petaluma, from a traditional landline, dial 9-1-1 (Emergencies Only) or with cell phones and digital phone service (VOIP) dial 707 -762 -2727. Contact your phone carrier for details on whether your phone plan has local or regional emergency access.
Remember, in major event normal communications may be delayed. Have an emergency plan that includes communications. Have someone outside the area (at least 100 miles away) that can be the emergency check in point for your family. As with the 2007 San Jose earthquake, phones were down for a short period of time. It will be easier to call outside the event zone shortly after an emergency. Program your family members' cell phones with your emergency check in contact and practice calling that contact as a family.
Another way to be cared for in an emergency is to program a phone number in your contact list called "I.C.E." (In Case of Emergency). Some first responders now check cell phone contact lists in situations where the victim is unable to respond. Having an I.C.E. number can help them locate family more efficiently.
Petaluma Weather Event Hotline & Webpage
City of Petaluma:
The Fire Department updates the Event Hotline as needed. Call the number below for further updates that may happen in significant weather conditions.
There is a link to their emergency notifications messages.
What's your RQ?
What's Your Readiness Quotient?
In recent years, the American people have been urged to “get ready” and to prepare for emergencies – from natural disasters to terrorist attacks. But no one has ever given the public a simple, comprehensive and consistent tool to actually measure how prepared they are. No one has ever provided individuals, communities, and the nation as a whole with a practical “gauge” to assess their preparedness, recognize their successes and identify gaps where more work needs to be done.
Until now.
The Readiness Quotient – or RQ – is a first of its kind tool for individuals, families and communities to determine and evaluate their readiness.
See how you stack up against the national average and learn specific steps you can take to better prepare yourself and your family, as well as things you can do to encourage your community, schools and workplace to be better prepared.
Your first important step is to learn your RQ score. This simple test takes less than one minute to complete.
Mission – To promote public events and training opportunities for local neighborhoods to learn how to organize volunteers into a Neighborhood Emergency Response Team or NERT, capable of helping neighbors cope with survival needs following a disaster.
Goal - To develop an emergency preparedness model that will enable neighborhoods to mobilize local resources in order to be prepared in the event of a disaster; such as an earthquake, flood, or wildfire.
Objective – To create STAR Neighborhoods that are safe, trained, alert and ready to assist family and neighbors during a disaster and prepared to make decisions that result in the most good for the greatest number of people.
To Join — Please use the NERT Forums link to connect with a local neighborhood project.
