During a disaster, such as an earthquake, you and your neighbors will be the first responders in your own communities until the professional first responders can arrive. What you do in the first few hours following a disaster will save lives.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program was created by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. The program teaches community members how to get and be prepared for a disaster, how to take care of themselves and their families, and how to safely work as a team to help their neighbors.
This program is now taught in all 50 States and in other countries around the world.
The Program in each State and County and City is managed by an official agency such as the Fire Department, Sherriff, or Emergency Management Department. The Program typically relies on volunteers to make it work. In LA City, the Battalion and Bureau Coordinators are volunteers who help recruit, put on drills and trainings, and organize teams.
I found the photo list to be most helpful as a checklist. Instead of a cheap plastic garbage can, get a metal can and lid to double as a faraday cage. Attach a good dolly with really good wheels. Invest in your safety. Or throw the garbage can into a wheelbarrow. Add a full sized shovel and pick-axe.
This advise served my sister so well in SA when she was in a hijack situation and she could reverse because of the curtesy of the bus driver behind her respectfully keeping his distance - most probably because he has seen this happen before - and swerve to knock the guy with the gun over and speed away! BE VIGILANT!!!
THE COMMUNITY IS SIGNIFICANTLY ILL. THE TREATMENT EXPERIENCED OVER THE YEARS (2005) I CANT SAY ENOUGH WHEN IT HITS THE FAN THE COMMUNITY IS COMPLETELY UNPREPARED. NO TRAINING ON WHAT AND WHEREWITHALL WE HAVE AS TRAINED MEMBERS UNDER DHS FEMA CERT CERTIFICATION. LA IS OUT. NO WAY NO HOW AM I STEPPING UP IN THE COMING DISASTERS. THE HORRIBLE TREATMENT RECEIVED BY NUMEROUS INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTING COMPANIES HAVE NO CLUE WHATS COMING DO TO THIS LACK OF COMPASSION FOR THOSE WHO ARE DISABLED CERT MEMBERS. OUT!
Community Emergency Response Team is primarily neighbors helping neighbors until the professional first responders can arrive. Team Rubicon is a military vet led organization that sends teams to parts of the country or around the world to help during a disaster. Similar but different. CERT focuses on at home. I can see where CERT volunteers would want to join Team Rubicon.
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Hi Pat, my two cents: the new manual no longer includes Triaging into a category per se. You should redirect your students when you ask a specific question. Victim 2, if you are going to use values, ie, 2 secs for cap refill, you should be consistent with values for respirations, a number rather than a word.
I've never been a fan of teaching breathing by the numbers. I feel like it encourages people to count breaths: If someone is breathing 30 times a minute, that's every 2 seconds meaning it'll take you a full minute to count the breaths. If it's only 29 times a minute is this person then breathing normally? By the numbers... Yes... And it still took you a full minute to figure that out. I would argue that breathing 29 times a minute is no different than 30 times a minute, still too fast. If people know what normal breathing looks like, or more precisely can see someone who is obviously breathing abnormally, they can triage them Immediate faster than if they are sitting there counting breaths. I should definitely demo what rapid breathing looks like more or add some videos in future presentations. It might be hard for people to visualize what breathing every 2 seconds looks like.
Video can be reviewed as 2 segments: Sherman Oaks Earthquake Lecture - Minutes 1 through 24:24. Sherman Oaks Mapping Review Minutes 24:24 thru 31:40. Thank you for watching :)
Thanks for all your CERT video classes. I am a CERT in SF Bay Area and find your series valuable - great refresher plus I learn new pointers as well. I will recommend you to our group. Thanks.
Great session! Good updates and protocols on IC vs TEAM LEADER. A bit complicated in that it ”feels” like it softens the typical ICS structure. Thanks for the reinforcement given towards the personal characteristics and key leadership goals of a ”good” Team Leader. Looking forward to more of these great sessions!👍
ICS command structure isn't supposed to rigid. It's supposed to adjust to fit the needs of the incident. Also, CERT isn't a traditional top down agency. I think my adjustments work to resolve a couple issues that just don't make sense with CERT in the ICS structure. Others may disagree. Always looking for feedback.
