Thursday, January 31, 2013

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter


Good morning, here is the News:

January Hours are due—Thanks to all who are ahead of the curve on this.  Please have your hours in by tomorrow (Friday) close of business.   Send them to our Team Leader Jennifer Tang at zhinan@gmail.com.


Team Meeting—Well OK, looks like my whole idea of playing in the sand has hit bottom with an impressive thud.  We'll be doing something else.  Sunday, 10 February, 3:00—4:30, let's stay with the Senior Center for now.    Have to get with Jen on this to put together a program, it's her meeting, but I'll be there this time, waving a cane and generally creating a nuisance.



Continuing Education—Class is full, but if you want to do this one I strongly encourage you to get on the wait list, it's not scheduled until the end of March, so there is a good chance you will get in.  Mike Brown is once again teaching his COMM class, 30 March, 9:30-1:30 at the Tierrasanta Rec Center, not really all that far from us.  NOTE, you CANNOT take this class if you took it before.   If you want to go, get on the wait list here:



Here's the map link to the Rec Center:





CE Opportunities—I'm going to run these two again, as they are still open.  PLEASE read them carefully.  If you think you might be able to do either one, but you have questions, drop Jen a note, we'll find out for you.  Time commitments are substantial, especially for the second one, and once you are in, you stay in.  Also note that both of these involve at least some part of the President's Day weekend, so your family needs to be on board with this.  We will be supporting drills being held as part of FireHouse World 2013:


a trade show/exhibition/conference offering serious hands-on training to First Responders.    We are probably supporting the certified training programs, at least that's what it looks like to me.  If you do the second one, I imagine you'll really know ICS better than any of us, should be good for bragging rights for a year or two.  For the first one, well, from my experience playing a victim in some of these drills you do learn a lot about how things actually work.  It's good stuff.


Continuing Education, Catastrophe Role-Playing

Date: 18 February 2013
Time: 3:00pm—10:30pm
Location: Meet at NTC, transport to actual location
Description: You will be asked to portray a participant in the aftermath of a disaster.  Possible roles include Media Reporter/Cameraperson; Local Landowner; Wildland Firefighter; Wildland Fire Hotshot Crew Leader; Fire Division Chief. This drill may require you to run quickly over uneven terrain AT NIGHT.  You will be expected to maintain a high level of energy, so I guess this is the chance to let that inner drama queen run wild.


Continuing Education, Incident Command Role-Playing

Dates/Times:  Sunday 17 February, 10:00am - 6:00pm
              Monday 18 February,  8:15am – 11:15am (Break) 1:45pm – 4:30pm
              Tuesday 19 February,  8:15am – 11:15am (Break) 1:45pm – 4:30pm
              Wednesday 20 February,  8:15am – 11:15am (Break) 1:45pm – 4:30pm
              Thursday 21 February  8:15am – 11:15am (Break) 1:45pm – 4:30pm
              Friday 22 February  7:00am – 11:00am
Location: NTC
Description: There are two role-playing positions. Both require a certain level of acting ability, as well as continuity, i.e. you will be expected to play the role the same way every time to maintain the training value.  Roles are as follows:
     Zone Dispatcher—you must be familiar with radio protocol as well as fire and other operational terminology to simulate the dispatch function for a zone.  Further, you must be able to understand how to effectively track resources during an incident.
      ITF Regional Emergency Coordinator —You will have to be credible as a commander who knows how to function within an incident.

You MUST commit to attend all days of this drill.  I think it goes without saying that you will need to be VERY familiar with ICS principles and procedures, if you do this one you will want to break out the manual again and take another look at some of those online NIMS classes.

To sign up for either CE, go here:




All for this week.  Jennifer has the helm, questions comments drop her a note at zhinan@gmail.com


-Steve

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