Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the news:

Continuing Education—Both sessions of the hose loading class are still open:

https://apps.sandiego.gov/ereg/cert/courses.php?grp=Continuing+Education+Opportunities

The time has now been set at 10am—12pm, Sunday 16 September and Sunday, 30 September.  Both sessions will be held at NTC.  There is some physical activity involved with this one.  Basically we will be learning how to properly re-pack the hose on a fire engine.  Normally the pumper's Crew would do this, during a wildfire disaster we may be called on to take on this task while the crew rests.  It's a simple but vital job that helps to keep our firefighting assets focused on fighting the fires.

And now let's hear from Captain Obvious; it's hot out.  It's been hot for awhile.  Despite the moisture, this kind of heat leads to very dry brush that has not burned off for over 5 years, and quite a bit of it longer than that.  Let's all hope we dodge this issue one more time.  If we don't. we need to be ready to help.  That's what we do.  I'll look forward to seeing you there.

Street Fair—Thanks to all who have signed up for a shift.  We can always use more, so if your schedule has firmed up and you can put some time in drop me a note.  I hope to have a plan in place by the end of the week, and I should be able to assign specific time slots and publish a working demo calendar.  One of the things we'll do differently this year is prominently feature our demo schedule in front of the booth, probably on a white board so we can change it if we need to.  This will encourage people to come back to us for a demo.  Not exactly a new gimmick, but a really good one.  Here is the detail again:

Mira Mesa Street Fair

Date: 15 September 2012

Time: 10am—5pm

Location: Camino Ruiz between Mira Mesa Blvd. and New Salem

We are usually very close to New Salem on the East side of the Street.  We've got some skills practice scheduled in wound care and rescue cribbing.  We'll be showing the Public how to load a patient in a litter, and how to properly size and wear a dust mask.  We will also be working with the Mira Mesa High School Air Force ROTC, a great group of highly motivated young people.  If you find at the last minute that you can put in some time with us, but you aren't on our schedule, that's OK, let me know when you can work any time before the event, we'll slot you in someplace.  We're going to have a great time folks.  See you there!

That's all for this week.  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Aug 28 Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News:

Street Fair Sign-up—The Mira Mesa Street Fair is Saturday, September 15, 10am—5pm.  OK folks, we could REALLY use a few more people for this.  Your support and commitment is what makes this our most successful recruiting effort, and I can guarantee you'll get some training in that you can use.  New Academy grads, if you don't have your DSW card and equipment yet, don't let that stop you, tell me about it and we'll work something out.   I can also schedule some practice sessions if you want to help but don't feel comfortable doing a demo in front of a crowd (to be frank, don't worry about it, the crowd won't really know if you are doing it right or not).  If you have never been to the Street Fair, you want to see this, it's pretty amazing.  We'll have our CERT trailer and at least one cabana set up.  Typically they put us at the top end of the fair, on Camino Ruiz East side, (north bound) one slot from the end.  Engine Company 38 gets the end slot, because they occasionally have to leave for a callout.  Members of the Mira Mesa High School Air Force ROTC will be helping us with demos again this year, these young people are a real inspiration and fun to work with.  Join us, we'll have a great time.  Please commit soon, I really need to have an event plan and demo schedule drafted by the end of the week, and I need to know who I can count on.  This counts as a Team Meeting for September.

There is no sign-up for this on the website.  Drop me a note, let me know when you can make it (morning or afternoon is good enough, we'll get to specific time slots soon), and if there is a particular demo with which you'd like to get involved.  Let's work together to grow our Team.

Situational Awareness—I'm copying in a note from our Program Manager Carie DeMarco, about an article she came across last week.  It's tough reading, people died, and it did not need to go down like that.  Those of you who have been around for awhile have heard me rant on about situational awareness often enough. Here the hazard is electrical, but it could have been any one of a number of things, collapsing building etc.   In this case, one cool head with a strong flashlight could have saved lives.  Maybe not all of them, these things go down fast, my point is, you don't need super strength or advanced rescue skills to make the difference.  Here is Carie's note:

When I read through the article below, my heart leapt into my throat…this is my biggest nightmare for any volunteer or Good Samaritan.  While CERT training teaches how to help others, the bigger part of the training is to help you keep yourself safe. 

For anyone who took the October Mira Mesa Haunt Search and Rescue CE the past two years and were upset that they were “tricked” and “killed”, here is a real-life lesson of nearly that exact scenario happening (please read the whole article).  The electrocution element of the drill was not put in to “trick” participants, but to present them with a real danger that asked them to think outside of the norm, to be on the look-out for hazards that are not totally obvious.

When considering what we do, danger is real.   I would not be doing my job if the training only focused on the obvious.  Volunteer Safety is always paramount!  Please, always be aware and careful!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/23/13433684-2-good-samaritans-electrocuted-trying-to-help-car-crash-victim?lite

Thanks and have a good day,

That's all for this week.  Last month at our meeting we discussed putting together a three-day deployment bag, how is everybody doing on that?  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Aug 21 Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News:

Street Fair Sign-up—The Mira Mesa Street Fair is Saturday, September 15, 10am—5pm.  This is a great opportunity for us to recruit some new Members and practice fundamental skills together.  Yes, we'll do some cribbing if we have enough people.  We can also practice wound care, carries, I'm up for just about anything, if you want to try it let me know.  Don't really want to do the demos?  It's not required, just man the booth and talk to people.  This counts as our Team Meeting for the month.  We're doing two-hour time blocks because experience shows that it makes the most sense, but if you have a special requirement we can work that out..

There is no sign-up for this on the website.  Drop me a note, let me know when you can make it (morning or afternoon is good enough, we'll get to specific time slots soon), and if there is a particular demo with which you'd like to get involved.  Let's work together to grow our Team.

All for this week.   I'm not going to miss the hot weather.  Stay cool, be ready.

-Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News:

Street Fair Sign-up—The Mira Mesa Street Fair is Saturday, September 15.  This is going away the best recruiting opportunity for our Mira Mesa Team.  What makes it work is the amount of action we can get going around the booth with interactive demos.  These demos serve us in two ways; they call attention to what we do, and give the impression that we are a local organization of dedicated volunteers (which in fact we are, so it works out).  Bottom line, the more people we have, the better it works.  This year we will do cribbing demos again, and log rolling, so dummy gets another workout.  I think we will add rescue carries, still working on that.  Many have requested wound care also, if we can fit that in we will.  Once again those amazing people in the Mira Mesa High School Air Force ROTC are going to help us out.  This will be fun.  For your two-hour commitment, you get to be part of a truly great hometown event, talk to really great people, and get some serious practice in on fundamental rescue skills.  Don't have quite two hours to spare?  We can work something out.  Don't really want to do the demos?  It's not required.

There is no sign-up for this on the website.  Drop me a note, let me know when you can make it (morning or afternoon is good enough), and if there is a particular demo with which you'd like to get involved.  Please help me to make our Team bigger and stronger.  We really need it.

Animal Rescue CE—We just got word of this, The Humane Society is sponsoring a class on preparing for disasters when you have pets.  This is good for Continuing Education.    Check it out:

http://www.sdhumane.org/site/PageServer?pagename=prg_HappyHour

Note that there is a $12 fee, and they are holding it this Thursday, two days from today.  Only the Preparedness class listed first is approved, not the First Aid for Dogs and Cats.    Those of you who just got the DSW card, time to start working on your renewal.  This isn't as far out there as you might think, we have a LOT of pets here in Mira Mesa.  Sometimes in a catastrophe these pets get separated from their human families.  WE might have to deal with them.  I don't think you need to have a pet to attend this class, they should be able to figure out why you are there if you are CERT.

All for this week.  Stay cool.

-Steve

Let's discuss CERT and Disaster Prep!

Hi CERT members!

Please join the open discussion of CERT procedures, family and workplace disaster procedures at the Back Channel CERT blog (http://backchannelcert.blogspot.com).  Current articles cover home (or elsewhere) evacuation preparation techniques and active shooter information.

Your thoughts and suggestions are welcomed.  However, the blog is moderated so don't worry about any "flame-wars" spoiling your experience.

TJ Walters

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting—This Thursday, 9 August 2012, 6:00-7:00pm at the Senior Center.  Weather the way it is, we might be enjoying the evening outside, but I don't want to move it to the rally point at this late date, we'll lose some people. Our main topic will be preparation for the coming fire season.  At least one veteran of the 2007 deployment will be there to share experiences.  We'll discuss putting together a three-day Go-bag, essential for any CERT, and the differences from our perspective as CERT between a progressive disaster and sudden catastrophe.  I hope to see you all there.

Telephone Tree Volunteers—We're still looking for one more volunteer to help us during a callout in alerting our Team.   This isn't a big deal, you can do it from your cell telephone wherever you happen to be.  Basically you will get a short message from me or Jennifer, or someone above us in our chain of command.  You will need to relay that message to about eight people on your Team, then follow those same instructions yourself.  Simple, but critical.  If you can do this for us, please drop me a note.

Street Fair Signup—A lot of our new graduates first met up with us at the Mira Mesa Street Fair.  This year the Fair will be held on Saturday, 15 September.   The hours are usually 10-5, with the bulk of the crowd showing up mid-day or a little after.  They'll have heavy earth-moving equipment, police SWAT tanks, bomb-sniffing robots, this isn't your usual Street Fair.  Thos of you who helped out last year and remember the great folks from the Mira Mesa High School Air Force ROTC program will be glad to know that we've already hooked up with them, and they will be sending their usual enthusiastic crew down to work with us.  This year we'll do the log-roll/litter exercise we did with them last year, and I think we will show them some basic rescue carries they can practice with each other (the Dummy can take a break).  We might get them dressed up in our practice PPE, they might as well suffer along with.  We will need help in staffing our booth and trailer, and we'll need a LOT of help with some of our demos.  Depending on how many people we get, we'll do  cribbing practice on Dummy in the street in front of our booth.  EVERYONE who wants to get in some cribbing practice should be able to do so.  Last year we only had enough people to do the cribbing in the middle of the day, but we discovered an interesting fact; a good cribbing exercise will draw a crowd away from bomb-sniffing robots and tanks.  So we want to do it more.  And we need your help.  Shifts are usually two hours, but we'll work with you on that.  Drop me a note and let me know if you prefer morning or evening.  If you have a particular CERT skill you want to practice, let me know that too, we'll try to set something up.  I really hope to see everyone there this is going away our best recruiting opportunity of the year in Mira Mesa.  We need to grow as a Team, and we need your help to do it.  Join us.

All for this week.  Battalion News tomorrow I think.  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good Morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting— Thursday, 9 August, 6-7pm, in the Senior Center.  Our primary topic will be the coming Fire Season.  We'll talk about CERT participation in a progressive disaster such as this.  Bradley Buffett has volunteered to share his experiences with two previous deployments in 2003 and 2007.   This is good first hand information, I hope you can make it.  Anybody else who was there, if you want to say a few words, let me know in advance so I can manage the time.

Telephone Tree—We are looking for a few volunteers for our telephone tree.  Basically, if we are called out, you have to take a short deployment message from me (or Jennifer, or from SDF&R if we are both off doing something) and relay that message accurately via telephone to about 8 people.  In my experience it takes 10-15 minutes.  If you are interested in helping with this, contact me directly via email.  I want to have at least one practice run sometime in August.

Hours Due—That's it for July.  Wow, seemed short.  Volunteer hours are due, please report if you attended the team meeting this last month, or any other volunteer hours, relevant instruction, etc.  I'd like to have everything by close of business tomorrow.  If you have ANY questions about what you should be reporting, please drop me a note.

All for this week.  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News:

Team Meeting—Thursday, 9 August, 6-7pm, in the Senior Center.  Our primary topic will be the coming Fire Season.  We'll talk about CERT participation in a progressive disaster such as this.  Input from our veterans who have been through this before is appreciated, please let me know if you were there and would like to make a short presentation (no, you don't have to do the whole meeting, 5 minutes is fine).

Volunteer Opportunity—This is tomorrow (Thursday) morning, really sorry for the short notice, but sometimes it's like that.  One of our Rancho Penasquitos Members participates in a Summer Camp for children of the Employees of Scripps Green hospital.  They are doing a learning session for the children that covers Disaster Preparedness.  Emphasis will be on certain rescue carries (or drags I guess) that children can perform.  There will be 3-4 classes, 7-8 children each, ages about 8-13.  They are looking for a few good people to help out as Assistant Instructors.  If you want to do this, you'll need to be at Scripps Green Hospital tomorrow morning at 8am for orientation, the class ends at 11:00am.  Full CERT gear has been approved for this, and is encouraged but not required.  Really helpful if you remember your rescue carries and can demonstrate a few of them.  This is  late notice so they aren't really counting on us, but I don't think there is any way this won't be a REALLY good time, so I'm putting it out there.  Let me know THIS MORNING (Wednesday) if you want to do this, I will put you in touch with the Scripps people directly.

All for this week.  Not much for Battalion News today, I'll put it out before the end of the week if I get anything you can use.  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

Fire Season Bug Out List

     Fire season is fast approaching and there are a lot of good ideas on planning for evacuations. For example, take a look at Steve's container idea in the previous post. There really is no right or wrong to evacuation plans - except for having no plan at all.

     During the 2003 fire here in San Diego, I got to see an example of someone not having a plan for evacuation. The fire had already taken dozens of homes in the Scripps Ranch suburb of San Diego when a TV camera crew spotted a lady leaving her house in an area that had just been ordered to evacuate. She was walking a little unsteadily to her car carrying a potted fern. Her car looked otherwise empty and I remember thinking, she's in shock and didn't know what to take. So she just grabbed the first thing she saw - a potted fern. She got in the car and left her house and who knows how much she lost to the fire which consumed the entire neighborhood. That image stayed with me while I kept thinking there had to be some things far more precious than a potted fern which she left and she now sorely misses. If she'd only had a evacuation plan so she didn't have to think about what to take during the crisis.

     I started looking around at various plans but finally settled on a concept I call a "Bug-Out List". It has some major benefits compared to other plans. It doesn't make any assumptions on who is at home or how much time you have to evacuate. It doesn't matter if you have 3 minutes, 3 hours or even 3 days to evacuate. It mostly requires you to sit down with your family and create a list of things to get in order of importance.

     So let's begin building the list.. First let's assume that you are in bed asleep and that when you wake there are no lights or power and it's the middle of a dark, overcast night - no moon or stars to help you see. A big earthquake could cause something like this and we should be thinking about a worst case scenario.

     First thing you should be able to grab right at your bedside is a good flashlight however your cell phone can also double as a flashlight in a pinch. Next, hard-soled shoes for everyone in case there is glass or sharp objects on the floor or outside. Did you know that feet being cut by glass was the most common injury in the 1992 LA earthquake?

     So far we're only talking a minute or two getting our feet protected. Next, you probably want to grab your clothes and jackets. Just grab them - don't stop to put them on if it's dangerous inside but we need them if we have to go outside. Even the warmest evenings can quickly get miserable if we're outside in our pajamas.

     Ok, here's our list so far which assumes we only had 3 minutes to evacuate because of an immediate disaster such as fire or earthquake.

1. Flashlight
2. Shoes
3. Clothes
4. Jackets

     Now let's change the evacuation time to 30 minutes and keep adding to our list additional items in order of importance. Once we've escaped the danger, we now need to concern ourselves with staying healthy and treating injuries. So to my list I add any first aid supplies I have ready to go and all the prescription medicines my family will need.

5. Big First Aid Kit
6. Prescription Drugs

     We now have to consider the survival triangle: Water, Food and Shelter from the elements. Shelter and water are going to be the most important of the three sides, depending on the environment. Shelter from the elements is first but without water you could be dead in a few hours if you are in a very hot climate. So the next things on the list should address shelter, water and then food. First, personal shelter in the form of blankets and to that we will add bath towels. Towels can be used as shelter, for example as a head wrap, in additional to their more classic uses. Next, the camping gear will shelter us if we cannot return to our house and there isn't any other shelter available.

7.   Blankets
8.   Towels
9.   Camping Tents
10. Camp Heaters
11. Camp Stove
12. Matches
13. Firestarters
14. Water
15. Non-perishable foods: canned goods, dried pasta and beans. And don't forget food for your pets too!

     Food, water and shelter have all now been addressed. Probably within the 30 minutes you had to evacuate too!

     With more time available, you could get some less obvious items onto your "Bug-out List" such as toilet paper to go with a camp toilet or covered bucket which you might need if help is delayed. Radios, batteries, laptop computers and computer backup drives will be coming into focus when the above needs are met and more time is available for evacuating. My list goes as far as our photo albums, stamp collections, artwork and musical instruments if there is enough warning. For instance, I can have the trailer hooked up to one of the cars and loaded if there's a day or more time.

     In conclusion, you can make the list cover just a few items or virtually your entire house depending on how far you wish to take it.  Then just hang it on the wall where anyone can easily find it.  But if something happens, all you have to do is tell whoever is there to keep going down the list until you have to evacuate. You won't be grabbing a potted fern in desperation. You'll be getting everything off of the list in the time that you have and that potted plant won't cause you leave anything more important behind.

TJ Walters

Fire Season is here. Is your family ready?

Good afternoon, here is the News: Fire Season—We all know our traditional Fire Season is fast approaching. That said, some of you may have caught the article in the San Diego Union this morning (Local page 2). Chief Mainar thinks Fire Season is already here. I think he's right. So I have some thoughts about preparing for this year's fire season, and I hope everyone can set aside a little time at an upcoming team meeting to talk about how we can stay ready. Before I go on I think I need to talk a bit about so-called progressive disasters (such as a wildfire) as opposed to sudden catastrophic disasters (such as an earthquake). In general, a progressive disaster "starts small" for lack of a better term, and builds until it impacts a large number of people. The first and most obvious difference in a progressive disaster is that our emergency services and communications remain intact and operational. Under these circumstances CERT does NOT deploy until we are ordered out by the San Diego Fire & Rescue Department. If we are ordered to evacuate our homes with our families, we evacuate. Our duty as CERT is clear in either case, it's Self and Family first. So that means we have two obligations as CERT. The first is the same as every other citizen has, we need to prepare ourselves and our Families for an evacuation. As CERT, we should set a good example for our Friends and Neighbors. Next, we need to prepare ourselves to deploy as CERT if we are called. In our household, we are implementing a plan I learned about in CERT. We bought several mid-size plastic containers with lids. The ones we got came from Container Store and had water-resistant lids, and we made sure they would fit our vehicles. Our next step is to make a list of the things that go in each container. Then we tape a list to each container, and put them away against the day we can just take them out, pack them and leave with them. I'm sure this is going to call for some tough decisions, and we are both very busy right now, but we've made a pact to get it done in the next two weeks. As far as deployment goes, it is recommended that every CERT have a duffle or case sufficient to support three days in the field. Recommended packing lists abound for this, but think in terms of a three-day camping trip that might stretch to five. CERT Members should have food and water sufficient to sustain themselves for at least 12 hours. If space does not permit it, you don't have to have the bag packed and ready, just have it available with a list of the items that go in it. I prefer to have a toiletries kit ready to go with travel sizes of the things I use, the clothes, food and water I'll pack when I need it. I don't think there are any guidelines for this, my goal is to be ready in 15 minutes. If you must evacuate, remember to take your CERT gear with you. One last thing, during our great blackout a lot of San Diegans discovered the wisdom of not letting the car get that close to empty. "How much" is subjective, my thought is always be able to drive at least 100 miles at highway speeds. That can get eaten up quickly in stop and go traffic as many of us discovered, so more is better. I know many of us also carry our three-day pack with us to work during the season. I think that's good practice also. Whatever you do, make a pact with yourself and your family to get it done in the next few weeks. Then let's all hope we don't need it. All for this week. Questions, comments, drop your Team Leader a note. -Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter 7/10/12

Team Meeting—TONIGHT, 10 July at the Senior Center, 6:00—7:00pm. Jennifer will go over what she learned at the Triage CE. We will talk a bit about ICS and managing in a catastrophe. Then if there is time we'll look at the calendar for the rest of the year and bounce some ideas. See you there! DSW Cards—If you graduated Academy 27, and you have taken two Continuing Education classes (either the five NIMs classes or some other combination) and attended two Team Meetings, you are eligible for your first DSW card. Please contact me before the end of July so I can file your paperwork, It's not automatic. All for this week, hope to see you tonight, if not, no problem, we'll have more. -Steve

FEMA Liability Guide

Dear CERTers, The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program at FEMA is pleased to announce publication of the new CERT Liability Guide, now available for download on the Supplemental Information page of the National CERT website at http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/downloads/pdf/CERT_Liability_Guide.pdf. CERT programs across the nation support post-disaster response and help ensure that CERT efforts are as safe and effective as possible. CERT advocates have understood that program activities can create risk and adverse consequences; however, perceptions about liability may become a larger barrier to CERT formation, activities and partnerships than is justified by reality. The purpose of this Guide is to offer information and suggested techniques to help local CERT programs overcome this barrier. The audience includes local programs, their sponsoring government agencies and legal advisors, and CERT members themselves. The new CERT Liability Guide presents the benefits of risk management for CERT programs, including building confidence and a positive public image for the program, reducing the cost of insurance and avoiding other costs, helping to preserve a local program’s investment in its members, and increasing overall participation in CERT. The Guide also presents five steps to effective risk management for local CERT programs: 1) Securing leadership support; 2) Collecting information to identify liability exposure; 3) Identifying and analyzing risks; 4) Adopting strategies to manage risk; and, 5) Adopting standard practices for ongoing risk management. Specific activities and considerations are described under each of the five steps. Local CERT programs that consistently follow the process described in the new Guide can benefit themselves, their sponsors, their members, and the community. Please download and review the CERT Liability Guide. And please let CERT practitioners and advocates around the country know your thoughts about the new Guide or any aspect of CERT at the CERT Online Forum. Share your ideas, suggestions and comments at http://community.fema.gov. Thank you! Sincerely, National CERT Program Federal Emergency Management Agency ________________________________________

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News: Team Meeting—Tuesday, 10 July 6:00pm-7:00pm at the Senior Center. Our Assistant Team Leader Jennifer Tang went to the CE last month on the new triage procedure, so she will be sharing what she learned with us. Jennifer is trained as an EMT, so I think this will be a great session, and I hope you can make it. If we have time, we'll talk about our Calendar for the rest of the year. Hours Due—I thought a few more of us than reported went to the triage CE, so if you forgot to tell me you attended, please let me know today. You will not get credit for this CE if you do not report the hours in the same month in which you took the training. The rescue skills drill we had in Carmel Valley, also on the 10th, is good for a Team Meeting, but you have to turn that in also to get credit. No credit, that's a bad thing. Turn 'em in. All for this week. Battalion News follows. Thank you for your commitment. Have a safe and happy holiday. -Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News: Team Meeting— Tuesday, 10 July, 6—7pm in the Senior Center. Assistant Team Leader Jennifer Tang is going to hold forth on our new triage system. If you made the CE on June 10, come anyway, we want your input. We will also talk about our calendar for the rest of the year and into 2013. No News Next Week—I'm out of town for a few days. Very limited access to email. If it just won't wait, send me email, I will direct you to someone who can help. Hours Reminder—As I just mentioned. no news next week, so this is your hours reminder. Please hold off until the end of the month so your reports do not pile up in my mailbox. First of July will be fine. Do NOT forget to declare your CE if you went to the triage class. I don't have the signup sheet for that, so I can't ping you if you don't report it. No report, no credit. No kidding. Don't forget. That's it for this week. Not much to go in the Battalion News, so I may not do one. Stay Safe. -Steve

Mira Mesa CERT Newsletter

Good morning, here is the News: July Meeting— Tuesday, 10 July, 6—7pm in the Senior Center. Still working on repeating the highlights of the triage CE. Apparently the new system is a bit more complex than I anticipated. If you went to this CE, we hope you can attend and share your experience with us. As we will be past the mid-way point on 2012, I will haul out the calendar and discuss our plans for the rest of the year, and we'll talk about our goals for 2013. No Haunt Drill this year—I have just been informed that the people sponsoring the Mira Mesa Haunted Manor will not do a production this year, due to financial issues. For those of you who are new, for the past two years we have used the Haunt as a venue for a fairly elaborate search and rescue exercise with live victims and many unexpected obstacles. The Haunt was an intricate maze that represented a real challenge all by itself. With just a bit of lead timer, we are going to look for another venue. I'll keep you posted. All for today, questions, comments, you know how to find me. Battalion News later today with any luck at all. -Steve