Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 3/15/11

Good morning, here is the news.  Remember, you'll get another email from me later with the Battalion-wide stuff in it.

April Team Meeting—10 April, Sunday.  We're doing a joint meeting in April with the other teams in Battalion 5, North Coastal and Carmel Valley.  Right now we're planning to have it at the Carmel Valley Recreation Center.  I'd like to shoot for a 1:00 start time, plan on two hours.  I think we will need RSVP for this one, we'll want to be sure to bring enough equipment to keep everyone busy.  We'll practice basic rescue skills, including extraction, stabilizing the patient, loading, unloading and transport.  Please get this one on your calendar if you possibly can, I would like to have you all meet our other Team Leaders  Greg Hom (North Coastal) and Preston Drake (Carmel Valley), one of them could be at the helm on The Day, and you should get to know them.  I'm going to get moving on coordinating this one with Greg and Preston over the next few days, and should have most of the details next week.

Last Month's Radio Drill—Somehow I don't think we got quite as good a coverage, but it wasn't bad.  here's what I think we learned:

·         We can still cover most of Mira Mesa with FRS radio, and buildings don't seem to make much of a difference, but if you are behind even the slightest terrain feature, you need to move.

·         Antenna position is important, straight up and down is best, and it seems that standing actually helps, the higher the better.

·         If you are in  a car, even stopped (you guys did STOP right?), it's probably best to get out of it to transmit

·         I was wrong about the radios, the $10 ones don't seem to work as well.  You probably need to invest over $20.

·         I have talked to the Teams on either side of us East to West (Carmel Valley and Scripps Ranch) and in those areas FRS is nearly useless except for close proximity work such as a search/rescue.  They are going HAM.  Expensive, but much, much better.

Upcoming Meetings—I was finally able to book the Senior Center for several of our meetings this year.  Great people in that place, they are all-volunteer.  I admit it's not on the top of my list, but I'm going to try to get the rest of the Year's Calendar for our Team finalized by the end of this month.  Next week I intend to post a preliminary plan in this Update with dates, times, locations and tentative subject for your review and comments.  Who knows, I might even get it posted on the CERT web site (Whoa, easy there Steve).

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

-Steve

Emergency Water Storage

Emergency Water Storage: "

Here is an ingenious way to store a large amount of drinking water in your home during emergencies. http://www.waterbob.com/ A relative in Hawaii just used one this morning to store water prior to the tsunami evacuations. These can also be found on eBay for $21 each (not including shipping)

"

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 3/2/11

Good morning, here is the news:

******MIRA MESA***********

Training Hours due—Please turn in the details of any training you took in February to me as soon as you can.  I can accept submissions up until tomorrow close of business.

Team Meeting— Next team meeting is Thursday, 10 March.  Please let me know as soon as possible if you plan to attend   We will start at 5:30 again.  End at 6:30, or shortly thereafter.  This is an FRS radio test.   You will start from your residence or other location you have identified to me.  I will establish a controlled net at 5:30.  After my announcement, you will call in with your call sign and location.  If you do not hear the announcement, listen at least five minutes.  If you hear someone else responding to the net announcement, try to communicate with them, and have them relay your call sign and location.  If you cannot hear anyone after five minutes, drive approximately half-way to the rally point, pull off in a safe location, and try again.  Please, do NOT operate your radio in a moving vehicle if you are driving.  When you get to the rally point, we will map your location when you first joined the net, and try to get some idea of our coverage. 

*****BATTALION 5*********

Training Hours are Due—If you have not turned in hours for February, please try to do so right away.

Continuing Education, Incident Command System Online Training—FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers a series of online self study courses for learning the Incident Command System.  The following courses are now required for all San Diego CERT.

100b

200

700a

704

800B

You can access these courses here:

http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp

Take all five courses and you can receive 2 CE credits.  So you can satisfy an entire year's CE requirements online.  Pretty good deal.  Here are some other details:

·         You have all year to do this (although you probably want to take them all  fairly close to each other and soon).  I have not seen a lot of certificates yet, please don't wait on this just because it's not due right away.

·         If you took any of the equivalent courses since 1 January 2005, they will count toward your requirement if you can produce the certificate you received.  You will not get credit for volunteer hours or a CE for courses you already took, but those courses will help satisfy the five-course requirement .

Send certificates for completed courses to your Team Leader.  You might want to accumulate all five and send them in a batch.

St. Patrick's Day Parade—Saturday, March 12, which is coming up fast.  Registration closes this Saturday at 5:00.  This one has a lot of moving parts.  Our partner for this is the San Diego Firefighter's Emerald Society:

http://www.sdffemeraldsociety.org/

The are hosting a breakfast that either begins at 5:30 according to their web site, or 6:00 according to our flier.  I'll get this cleared up for next week's blast.  It appears that there is no charge for breakfast, I'll find out about that too, and whether or not we have to register some place (I don't know a whole lot about this, do I?).  We do know that breakfast is at the Hook and Ladder Museum 1572 Columbia Street.  The Emerald Society appears to believe that you somehow become part Irish when you become a Firefighter, and who is to say they are wrong?  They have a bagpipe and drum band, I presume they will make an appearance at the parade, along with a bunch of Firefighters and trucks.  If you don't make the breakfast, staging starts at 9:30, on 6th street between Juniper and Ivy.  Plan to get there early if you want to park anywhere near there.  March in a Parade, Bagpipes, fire trucks and engines, what's not to love about this event?  Go to the web site to sign up:

https://apps.sandiego.gov/ereg/cert/courses.php?grp=Team+Trainings/Activities

Occasional Rant—Cut my finger this last weekend in a painting project (you cut yourself painting?  Really, it's not that good a story).  Anyway, went rummaging in the bathroom for some stick on bandages (the kind we don't use in CERT).   Found some fingertip bandages I must have purchased when the first Bush was president.  They came apart when I opened them.  Obviously my home first aid supplies need updating, how about yours?  Are they roasting nicely in that little steel box you bought?  Here's a clue, if they actually came in a steel box (not plastic) you probably want to open that up and take a look.  Be emotionally prepared to pitch the whole thing.  Replace your kit, don't count on raiding the stuff in your Go-Pack, it's a different mission, and you need that stuff where it is.  I like to have fingertip/knuckle bandages around, some good waterproof strips, fresh peroxide and good splinter tweezers (I like Tweezerman Slant style you can get at most beauty supply stores, haven't seen anything better).

That's all for this week, questions, comments, drop your Team Leader a note.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 2/22/11

Good morning, here is the news:

*******MIRA MESA*********

Team Meeting—Next team meeting is Thursday, 10 March. We will start at 5:30 again.  End at 6:30, or shortly thereafter.  This is an FRS radio test.   You will start from your residence or other location you have identified to me.  I will establish a controlled net at 5:30.  After my announcement, you will call in with your call sign and location.  If you do not hear the announcement, listen at least five minutes.  If you hear someone else responding to the net announcement, try to communicate with them, and have them relay your call sign and location.  If you cannot hear anyone after five minutes, drive approximately half-way to the rally point, pull off in a safe location, and try again.  Please, do NOT operate your radio in a moving vehicle if you are driving.  When you get to the rally point, we will map your location when you first joined the net, and try to get some idea of our coverage.  I will have more details as we get closer to the drill, for now, if you are planning to attend, please do the following:

*  If you want to join this drill but don't have an FRS radio, contact me by email, we have some that we can lend.

*  I will start asking for RSVP for this drill starting next week.  If there is any chance you will attend, please RSVP, we will want to assign a call sign to you for this drill.

* If you have rarely (never) used your radio, try to get some practice in before the drill.  Only have the one radio, and no one else to practice with?  Drop me an email, we'll arrange something.  Oh, and take a look at that manual, ensure that you know how to operate the controls.  If your radio has a privacy setting, turn it off (don't know what that is?  check your manual).

*  Ensure that you have either fresh batteries or a fully charged radio before the drill.

Carmel Valley Team Meeting—  This Thursday, 24 February, 6-7:30.  I will be hauling the wound care classroom materials over there.  We will go through the same wound care procedure we did last month at our meeting. If you missed our meeting, and really want to practice wound care, we have been invited to attend by the Carmel Valley Team.  At the Carmel Valley Recreation Center on Townsgate Drive, Just off of El Camino Real, South of Del Mar Heights (it's in Carmel Valley, handily enough).  Drop me a note if you have questions about this.

******BATTALION 5*********

Continuing Education, Volunteering and Your Taxes—26 March, 9am—11am down at NTC.  Malcolm Gettman, Battalion Liaison, veteran IRS Agent.  Go here to sign up:

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

Refresher—Several of you have asked about this.  I have been in regular contact with CERT Administration, and I am assured that it is a high priority.  You probably know that refreshers are hard to put together.  The requirements are comprehensive, and we have to work with our available training resources to  actually make it happen.  I appreciate your patience, and can assure you that you'll hear about it as soon as I know through this, our regular communication channel.  There is also the possibility that the County will put together a qualified program as they did last Fall, I will keep you informed.

Occasional Rant—Earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand today.  About 6.3 on the Richter scale.  When you have a few minutes today, please look over some of the images available and watch the video coming from there.  Go to your favorite news source, or try here:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/22/quake-in-new-zealand-kills-at-least-65-traps-more/#

and here, Google's Crisis Response Project:

http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/christchurch_earthquake.html

This is what it will be like.  No, I'm serious. If you are thinking "we'll come through a 6.3 a lot better than that", no, we probably won't.  Watch the videos like I did, try to live the experience, observe what is being done and how it is being done.  Ask yourself "What would I do"?  If you are activated, then you will be the one in the helmet and the vest.  People will look to you for leadership.  Note in several of the videos the focus is on groups of people extracting a patient from a car, or pulling blocks of rubble out of a hole.  Note that the entire surrounding scene is filled with dazed survivors.  Some of these latter are going into shock, and might not make it.  They need someone to tell them "come with me, I'll take you to a safe place".  That's a rescue, every bit as important as the car extraction, because it produces a live survivor who might otherwise have been lost.  Also note that some of the rescuers are doing things we will not do.  CERT does not stand on top of collapsed buildings, or go into them, unless we are supporting Professional First Responders.  We rescue the people we can, and as many as we can, and we stay safe.  That's our mission.  If these scenes from New Zealand bring the experience a little closer for you, then I urge you to spend some time studying the videos, and thinking about what you would do.

That's all for this week, questions, comments, drop your Team Leader a note.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 2/15/11

Good afternoon here is the news:

*******MIRA MESA********

Team Meeting— Thursday, 10 March, beginning at 6:00.  You will begin the meeting at your residence, or some other agreed upon point.  I will establish a controlled net from the rally point on FRS Channel 7.  If you can hear me from your location, you will respond with your call sign, then proceed to the rally point.  I will have a lot more details as we get closer to the date.  For now, if you plan to participate I will need to know, as I plan to assign call signs to everyone for privacy's sake.  So drop me a note if you are planning to join us, if later you have a conflict that's ok, but I want everyone to have a call sign.

Carmel Valley Team Meeting—Those of you who missed our Team Meeting last month when we went over wound care can have another shot at it.  I'm taking the wound care class materials over to Carmel Valley Team for their February meeting, 24 February, 6-7:30pm, at the Carmel Valley Recreation Center on Townsgate Drive, Just off of El Camino Real, South of Del Mar Heights:

Here is the Google Map

A good chance to brush up on Wound Care techniques and meet Team Leader Preston Drake and some of his sorry mob.  They are folk we will probably get to know really well if we ever have a real incident.

******BATTALION 5*********

Continuing Education— Family Preparedness with Brian Kidwell.  Thursday, 17 February, down at the NTC, starting at 6:00pm.  That's this Thursday, yes, it is the last minute.   This is NOT the same as the Survival Class, Brian doesn't bury rice in the back yard or burn corn chips.  I don't think he does anyway.  It's a big classroom, and there is plenty of room left.  I'm serious, this might be the best investment you make this year  in your own safety and the safety of your family when the big one hits.  Please plan to attend.  Sign up here:

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

Continuing Education—Sunday, 20 February, 9am—1pm, down at the NTC.  That's this Sunday, it's the last minute for this one also.  It is billed as a "learning exercise" and "not for everyone".  They still have a few slots left, but they are not many, sign up today if you want to do this.  As I mentioned before, if you are currently on crutches or something like that, this may not be for you.

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

Continuing Education, Volunteering and Your Taxes— The first class is full.  The open class is 26 March, 9am—11am down at NTC.  Malcolm Gettman, Battalion Liaison, veteran IRS Agent and straight shooter.  This could be very timely information for you, and you get CE credit, you just can't lose.  Go here to sign up:

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

Occasional Rant—The folks teaching the CE's for this month are all volunteers.  I'm sure everyone knows where the City is with the budget.  One more time, don't think we can keep this up.  Yeah, we are all busy, and maybe I'm over-doing it here (who, me?) but I'm the guy who is going to be hearing from a bunch of you over this year as your graduation anniversaries get close and the Calendar is empty.  If you are several months into your qualifying period, and you don't have a CE on the books, snap one of these up.  They might get scarce really soon.

That's all for this week, questions, comments, drop your Team Leader a note.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 2/8/11

Good morning, here is the news:

*******MIRA MESA*********

Team Meeting— This Thursday, starting at 6:00, my house 10125 Baffin Drive.  If you need driving directions, contact me directly.  Please bring an FRS radio if you have one.  Don't forget to pull it out and charge it before the drill (how about today?)  Bring the manual also if you can find it.  We'll get some practice on the basics; sending, receiving, changing channels etc.  Come anyway if you don't have a radio, you can borrow one for the drill.  Next month we are going to do this out in the field to see how well our radios do, so if you need some practice, or have never actually used the thing, please plan to join us this Thursday.  If we finish early, we will review utility shutoff.  We'll be doing this in my garage, and as always chairs at my place are in short supply, if you have something you can EASILY bring, schlep it along (leave the Barcalounger at home).

*******BATTALION 5**********

Continuing Education—This just posted, but it is coming up soon.  Thursday, 17 February, down at the NTC, starting at 6:00pm.  Family Preparedness with Brian Kidwell. If you've never seen Brian, and even if you have, try to make this one.   His command of the subject material is truly amazing.  We all know that our first duty in a true emergency is to ourselves and our families. This is where you can go to learn what you need to know.  Sign up here:

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

Trust me, this one will fill FAST.  If you want/need to go, sign up today.  Sponsored by Battalion 6.

Continuing Education—This one has been on the site for some time now, but Beach Team only sign-up.  It opens for the rest of us TOMORROW, so please wait until then to sign up.  Sunday, 20 February, 9am—1pm, down at the NTC.  We don't have much more than that.  It is billed as a "learning exercise" and "not for everyone".  Probably involves rescue techniques, but I'm guessing here, the surprise is part of the training experience.  I really don't think that anyone should be scared by the advertising, but you probably want to avoid this one if you are currently mending a broken leg or something similar.  You don't really know what your limits will be in a real emergency if you don't test them.  Go here to sign up:

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

Continuing Education, Volunteering and Your Taxes— The first class is already full, if you are waiting on this one, don't.  The open class is 26 March, 9am—11am down at NTC.  Malcolm Gettman, Battalion Liaison, veteran IRS Agent and straight shooter.  Go here to sign up:

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

DSW Renewals—I made an error in last week's News, the next renewal deadline is end of March, not April.

Occasional Rant—We are wealthy with opportunity this month.  Three solid CE's.  I can tell you that it is hard to set up a good search/rescue exercise, which is why they don't come very often, and much thanks to Beach Team for putting this together (assuming of course that search/rescue is what they are doing).  Has it been awhile since you practiced?  Here's a test, if you have not met our Big Heavy Dummy, or don't know him well enough to have an active dislike for him, you need some training.  Moving on, the benefit of Kidwell's wisdom is priceless, and it is not often that a professional with Malcolm's background holds forth on a subject that can be very important to volunteers.  Either of these guys could make money off of this, but they offer it to us for free.  My message is this, don't think we can keep up this three quality CE's a month thing.   If you don't have enough CE's RIGHT NOW to satisfy the current qualification period, you must consider taking one of these.  Special note for Academy 24 grads, you will need to have two CE's and two Team Meetings by next May, that's coming up SOON, so get signed up and take a class.

I'm Just Sayin—Those of you who read our morning paper The San Diego Union-Tribune probably saw the front-page article about the effect of the brownouts on response times.  Our SDFD is doing a tremendous job in the face of continuing adversity, and I salute them.  The sidebar on the second page of the article identified four incidents, the implication being that the outcomes might have been different if the brownouts weren't in place.  This is unfortunate and disappointing in two ways; first, there is no guarantee whatsoever that any of the outcomes would have changed.  Second, while again there are no guarantees, in some of those incidents the outcome MIGHT have changed if anyone present had taken CPR/AED.  CPR/AED is not a CERT skill, we acknowledge that our mission does not allow us to spend that kind of time with a patient in a mass casualty situation.  However, San Diego CERT does allow CE credit for CPR/AED, as well as Basic First Aid, which is a great supplement to our own wound care training.  You can take both in a single day and get CE credit for each.  These classes aren't free, but I can tell you from my own experience that the quality of the instruction at the Red Cross is very good indeed.  Better still, these classes are given regularly by the Red Cross at their Headquarters just a few minutes from Mira Mesa on Calle Fortunada just off Ruffin Rd.  The brownouts affect all of us, let's try to do what we can to help our Firemen.  I'm just sayin.

That's all for this week, questions, comments, drop your Team Leader a note.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 2/1/11

Good morning, here is the news:

******MIRA MESA********

Team Meeting— Thursday, 10 February, my house 10125 Baffin Drive, near Jade Coast and Camino Ruiz.  Unless there is a serious objection, let's start at 6:00.  We'll finish promptly at 7:00.  Bring an FRS radio if you have one, and the manual (yes, yes, the little book of instructions that came with it).   Take it from me, these little critters with their digital displays and multi-step menus aren't all that intuitive, which is REALLY unfortunate.  I thought first time I turned mine on I'd at least be able to figure out how to change the channel.  I did eventually, but it took way longer than I'd have in an emergency.  So we'll get some practice in.   This is a setup for our radio drill next month.  For those of you who were not with us last year, you start from your own residence, or some set point in Mira Mesa.  One of us will go to the rally point and declare a controlled net (more on that later) at a pre-agreed upon time.  If you can hear the controlled net announcement, when it is your turn you will report your assigned call sign and your general location.  You may be asked to relay a message from someone who can't hear the announcement.  If you can't hear the announcement, you get in your car, drive half way to the rally point, pull over and try again.  Might as well start this tirade now, I don't want anyone operating a radio while driving.  When you get to the rally point, we'll plot your original location and the point at which you joined the net.  This will give us some general idea of our coverage.  Last year when we did this, it was pretty impressive.  I want to see if we can duplicate that.  If you don't have a radio, let me know, other Team Members have spares.  OK, back to our meeting next week.  If we finish early, we will review utility shut-off procedures.  This always gets short shrift in Academy, we'll review safe electrical, gas and water shutoff and the reasons for shutting them off (or not).

*******BATTALION 5********

DSW Renewal—Please take a moment to check the expiration date on your card.  If you need to apply for renewal in this period, you MUST get your training records in to our Team Leader immediately.  Leadership has until Friday to submit renewals.  Those of you who graduated from Academy in the last year need to think about getting two CE's and two Team Meetings under your belt within one year of your graduation.  Work with your Team Leader.  Do not rely on your Team Leader to keep your records and remind you when renewal is due, it is the responsibility of each of us to keep our own records and know when we must renew.  Renewals are processed every other month, so if you miss this one, your next opportunity is end of April.

Continuing Education, Volunteering and Your Taxes— The first class is already full, if you are waiting on this one, don't.  The open class is 26 March, 9am—11am down at NTC.  Malcolm Gettman, Battalion Liaison, veteran IRS Agent and straight shooter.  Go here to sign up:

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

Continuing Education, Incident Command System Online Training— I made a couple of errors in last week's announcement.  The last course is 800b, not 800a.  So the full list of classes is:

100b

200

700a

704

800b

Also, San Diego CERT will count classes you took back to 1 January 2005 If you can produce a certificate of completion.

St. Patrick's Day Parade— Another error I made last week, we have plenty of people who want to do this.  It is in for approval now, so not a done deal yet.  Pencil in 12 March (Saturday) if you are interested, we'll have more soon.

That's all for this week, questions, comments, email your Team Leader.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 1/25/11

Good morning, no News email last week, so I have some catching up to do:

*****MIRA MESA********

Training Hours Due—By the end of the week.  Even if you told me earlier in the month, take a moment to remind me, it is very important that we get your training logged in the month you took it.

Team Meeting—Thursday, 10 February, my house 10125 Baffin Drive, near Jade Coast and Camino Ruiz.  Unless there is a serious objection, let's start at 6:00.  We'll finish promptly at 7:00.  Bring an FRS radio if you have one, and the manual if you can put your hands on it.   Come anyway if you don't have one, we'll have some to share.  We will go through a static exercise of setting up a controlled net, and all of us will get a little practice communicating.   This is a setup for our radio drill next month.  If we finish early, we will review utility shut-off procedures.

******BATTALION 5******

Training Hours Due—Please turn in any training or volunteer hours to your Team Leader by Friday, your Team Leader needs a chance to compile the training report.

Continuing Education, Volunteering and Your Taxes— We have our own expert, Malcolm Gettman, Battalion 1 Liaison, IRS Agent, and seriously good guy.  The first class is already full, if you are waiting on this one, don't.  The open class is 26 March, 9am—11am down at NTC.  I don't know much about this myself, which is not a good thing, but you might have qualified deductibles as a result of your volunteer work.  Get the straight story from Malcolm.  He knows what he is talking about.  Right now I don't.  Go here to sign up:

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

Continuing Education, Incident Command System Online Training—FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI) offers a series of online self study courses for learning the Incident Command System (ICS, note, with their obsessive need for leaving no acronym untouched, it would appear that the Government is migrating ICS to the all new and better National Incident Management System, or NIMS.  We'll keep you posted on this).  The thinking is that pretty much all emergency personnel should be trained in the fundamentals of operating ICS, so that people from different agencies and groups can be slotted into the ICS structure as needed during a disaster.  Accordingly, the following courses are now required for all San Diego CERT team members:

100b

200

700a

704

800a

You can access these courses here:

http://training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp

There is no signup on the CERT web site.

Yes, I said required.  Here is the good news:

·         You have all year to do this (although you probably want to take them all  fairly close to each other and soon)

·         All five courses are good for 2 CE credits if you take them going forward from now.  Three courses are good for one credit.

·         If you took any of the equivalent courses since January 2008, they will count toward your requirement if you can produce the certificate you received.  Yu will not get credit for volunteer hours or a CE for courses you already took, but those course will help satisfy the five-course requirement .

Bottom line, you can satisfy an entire year's CE requirements online with this deal.  Send certificates for completed courses to your Team Leader.  You might want to accumulate all five and send them in a batch.  I know that there will be questions about this one, please address them to your Team Leader.  I will try to handle all of them in one batch in next week's email.  And, I'll be sitting down to take my first course this weekend.

UCI Study—Researchers at the University of California, Irvine are conducting a study on disaster response, and they would like CERT team members to participate.  The following is from researcher Alexander Gerard Bretaña:

The Study:

The majority of the research done on disaster response is within the context of large nonprofit organizations.  More specifically, studies tend to take a closer look at the interactions between organizations.  Other studies focus on volunteers within the community who collaborate with each other outside of an organizational context.  What I aim to study is the role of volunteers within organizations and their communication/collaboration techniques as  well as their technology use out in the field of disaster/emergency response.

Sample Questions:

Can you tell me about the last time you were out in the field with the CERT?

  

·  Where did you go?

·  What were you doing when you got there?

·  How did you learn about the situation and its details and who told you?  Can you tell me how your role during the situation changed, if at all?  What determines whether or not your role(s) or responsibilities change during the event?  Do you go into a situation knowing that your job will change based on the changing environment or do you have a set plan of what to do?

What different technologies did you use?

  

·  In what ways was this technology helpful for the work you were doing?

·  In what ways was this technology inadequate/insufficient for the work you were doing?

I've also attached a study information sheet that all interview participants are required to read before taking part in my study. It's nothing big - a 2 page summary of some protocols and details. If anyone needs to reach me, they can e-mail at this address (abretana@uci.edu) or call me at (310) 986-3339. Thanks again!

OK, I'm back, there is no obligation, if you want to help  these folks out, I'm sure the research will be worthy.  We have copies of the flyer, if you want to see one contact your Team Leader.

St. Patrick's Day Parade—Hopefully you all saw the email last week.  Looks like we didn't get enough interest to go forward.  Darn shame.  I will find out where we are wit this, and post an announcement if we are doing it.

That's ALL for this week, teach me to miss one.  Questions, comments, contact your Team Leader.

-Steve

CERT National Newsletter Q1 2011

Dear CERT Community,

The CERT National Program Office is pleased to bring you the first 2011 quarterly "CERT National Newsletter."  This is an exciting edition and features an informative story on Haiti CERT’s response to the devastating earthquake a year ago.  Also, be sure to read the stories on promoting CERT in your community, a rodeo in Guam that refreshes disaster readiness skills, and how a “disability” is a special skill in disguise.  Click on the following link to read and download the newsletter: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/newsletter.shtm

We hope you enjoy this newsletter. If you know of others who would be interested in receiving CERT National newsletters or CERT updates, please have them subscribe at the following website:  http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/subscribe.shtm

Thank you.

Sincerely,

CERT National Program Office
Community Preparedness Division
Federal Emergency Management Agency

A Gift Idea For CERT Teams

A Gift Idea For CERT Teams: "

Check out the CERT VAULT (Vehicle Attached Utility Load Transporter) available on Amazon. Is it cool? Definitely! Is it useful? Of course! Is it expensive? You bet!

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Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 1/11/11

Good Morning, here is the news:

*******MIRA MESA*********

February Team Meeting—The Tenth falls on a Thursday.  I mentioned in a previous News that we would probably be doing a radio drill as we did last year.  At last night's meeting (thanks to all who attended, I think everyone improved their wound care skills) it was suggested to me that we really needed a little review on our radio communications skills before we try this. So let's plan on doing the February meeting in my garage where we will review proper radio procedure, then I think we'll do the utilities shut-off review I promised a few months ago and didn't get to.  If you think you can make this meeting, but don't have an FRS radio, please let me know in the next few days, I can get one for you to borrow for the drill.

Upcoming Meetings—In March the Tenth falls on a Thursday.  We should probably do the radio drill, but Daylight Saving Time does not fire up until the following Sunday, so it will be dark.  I'm giving this some thought.  Comments/suggestions invited.  Moving on to April, we have a Sunday to work with, and it's been awhile since we did a rescue skills review, so I guess we should plan for that.  Many of you know what that means;  Big Heavy Dummy is back!  My joy knows no bounds.  I do not like Big Heavy Dummy.  I'll see if he's available, not surprisingly (to me anyway) his schedule is usually pretty open.  Please try to make this one if you can, we don't get much practice with rescue techniques.

******BATTALION 5*********

If you did NOT get the all-hands announcement about the two upcoming CE's, contact your Team Leader immediately. I'll repeat the announcement here:

Upcoming CE—With tax season upon us, you should understand how your volunteer work with CERT may or may not have an effect on your taxes.  SD CERT Liaison Malcolm Gettman is a veteran IRS agent and a great guy.  He's scheduled two sessions on Saturday, 19 February  (11:30am—1:30pm) and Saturday 26 March (9:00am—11:00am) to talk about volunteering and filing your 2010 tax return.  Go here to sign up:

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

The first session is already full, but you can get on the waiting list.  If you want to go to the second one, don't wait!  You just don't get this kind of good advice from someone so well qualified.

Volunteer to march in the Martin Luther King Day Parade—Never been in a parade?  Here's your chance. The parade is this Saturday 15 January.  We don't know exactly when we will step off, so block your calendar from 9 until Noon to be safe.  The parade route basically circles Petco Park, I estimate it at just over a mile total.  A parade like this is HUGE exposure to an audience that doesn't know us, if would really like to help CERT and you love parades, give this a shot.  Remember, you'll be walking, good shoes, dress for the weather, BRING WATER and have a good time!   Sign up here:

https://apps.sandiego.gov/ereg/cert/courses.php?grp=Team+Trainings/Activities

Battalion 6 Community Meeting—I blew it on this one, should have had it in last week's News.  Battalion 6 is trying to get more interest from their Community, so they've scheduled some time at a Community Meeting tomorrow night 7pm, at 511 S. 47th Street, San Diego, CA 92113.  This appears to be the Mount Erie Christian Academy, good picture on Google Maps if you want to check it out.  Looks like 805 South past the 94, off at Imperial, left on Imperial, then right on 47th, maybe 2 blocks to the Academy.  The emphasis will be on explaining how CERT aids the Community, both in personal/family preparation as well as learning how to help in the time of need.  If you have some time tomorrow night, and want to help B6 just by being there in support (you probably don't have to say anything) then please take the time to help out.  Thank you.

That's all for this week.  Questions, comments, contact your Team Leader.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 1/5/11

Good morning, here is the news:

******MIRA MESA**********

Team Meeting—This next Monday, January 10, 5:30-6:30pm.  A local company, ProfitLine, is allowing us to use a conference room in their corporate headquarters for a meeting.  Their offices are at 9920 Pacific Heights Blvd., Ste. 200.  That's the big glass building on the Northwest corner of Pacific Heights Blvd. and Mira Mesa Blvd.  From Mira Mesa Blvd, turn North onto Pacific Heights, then left at the first light, then an immediate left into the parking lot.  Take the elevator to the second floor.  We'll have some sort of signage in the lobby.  Try to be prompt, the lobby doors lock automatically and the elevator is card-access only after 6:00.

At this meeting, we will review our wound care skills.  I will get some of the training kits used in Academy, so we will have plenty of rolled bandage and probably some splinting materials.  Feel free to bring your own materials if you want to try them out.  If you have ordered materials online or have a local source for First Aid materials, please bring that information to share.  We'll try to conclude promptly at 6:30.  When you have a few moments, take a look at your manual, starting at page 4-15, lots of good information there.  Please be prepared to be a practice victim as well as a rescuer, we'll most likely pair up to practice.  Full PPE is not required, but I'd like to see everyone wear gloves, it's a different experience when you have to wrap a wound gloved, and we all need to practice that way.  We are going to keep the pace really fast, just as we would in a real situation when many patients need our help, and we can't spend a lot of time with anyone.  Hopefully we'll have time to do head-to-toe assessments also.  I'll see you here.

February Team Meeting—In February, the tenth falls on a Thursday.  I think we will do an FRS radio drill similar to last year's drill.  For those of you who weren't with us, it works like this; instead of going to our rally point, you will start from your own home.  Promptly at 5:30, we will set up a controlled net on our watch channel, Channel 7 (I'll have more about all of this later, don't worry about it).  If you hear the announcement, you will attempt to respond with your general location.  If you cannot, then you drive half the distance to the rally point, pull over in a safe location and try again.  When we all get to the rally point, we will map out the contacts and try to determine our coverage.  Last year, most of us were surprised at how good it was, based on our previous experiences.  So we'll see if we do that well this time.  If you don't have an FRS radio, and want to participate, let me know by email, some of us have spares we can loan.

******BATTALION 5**********

Upcoming CE—This course is now full.  I guess there was a bit of pent-up demand for a CE.  This course is conducted by Tom Beasley and Susan Coniry, survivalists and authors of "Ready or Not, a Disaster Survival Handbook".  Please Note: If you have taken this course for CE credit  in the last 12 months, you cannot take it again for CE credit.  If you missed out on this and want to go, get on the wait list, they might take a few more.  This Saturday, 8 January, 10-12 down at NTC, probably in 89B.  Go here to get on the wait list:

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

Upcoming Academy, register for notification—we don't have dates yet, but if you know someone who is interested in joining CERT, have them visit our web site:

https://apps.sandiego.gov/ereg/cert/register.php?id=283

and sign up to be notified when the Academy opens for registration.  I can't emphasize enough how important this is, people are much more likely to take action when the opportunity presents, and there is a sense of urgency.  You probably know that the last few Academies filled up, so please urge your candidate to get on the notification list, send them the link I posted above in an email if possible.

Occasional Rant—We make a lot of personal equipment recommendations in CERT.  Starting with Academy, we get good advice about things we could obtain that would make us more effective when we must deploy to face an emergency.  I want to be very clear about this, these suggestions are just that, suggestions.  You are not required to purchase any of this equipment to participate as CERT.  When you come to a drill, you need to bring your Go-Bag and your Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).  When you deploy you also need to bring whatever you need to sustain yourself for at least a full 24-hour day (medications, water, food etc).  I don't want anyone to think that they are less valuable to us as CERT because they don't show up with a bus full of equipment.  So, if you want to get basic medical supplies, an FRS radio, whatever, feel free  to ask for advice at your team meeting before you buy, and know that we need you and your training in any case.

That's all for this week, I'm sure we'll have much more as we all get used to this whole idea of 2011.  Questions, comments, contact your Team Leader.

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 12/28/10

Good morning, here is the news:

******MIRA MESA*******

January 2011 Team Meeting— Meeting is 10 January, which is a Monday.  Let's start at 5:45 and see how that works, we have some new people who have to travel a ways to get here.  We'll end promptly at 6:45.  I'm going to have another try at our Rec Center, I've done a bit of research, and we may have a way to go.  I should know today if we can use it for the January meeting.  If we can't, I'll either defer the meeting for another month, or maybe we'll do the FRS radio drill I was planning to do in February.  One way or the other, the way the weather has been, I don't think we'll plan for an hour meeting in the park.  As always, if you know of a nearby community room or some such that we can access after business hours, please let me know, I'll follow it up.

*****BATTALION 5********

Continuing Education 8 January—This is showing closed on the web site, I think it was supposed to close for Battalion 2 only sign-up, then open for the rest of us.  It looks like the "open for the rest of us" part did not happen, no surprise since it would have happened the evening of December 23rd.  Maybe Battalion 2 really did fill the classroom in 89B, but I rather doubt it.  I have an inquiry in, but many people are off this week, so we may not get any action until next Monday.  If you want to go, keep it on your calendar, I'll let you know as soon as I have some answers.   PLEASE don't send emails to our leadership, let me follow up.

That's all for now, questions, comments, contact your Team Leader.  Have a safe and Happy New Year!

-Steve

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 12/21/10

Good morning, here is the News:

*****MIRA MESA*********

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE ON TEAM MIRA MESA—It is my great privilege to work with such a dedicated group.  I look forward to bringing you new opportunities to sharpen your skills and be better prepared in 2011.  And of course I hope someone gives you eye protection that fits and doesn't fog up.

-Steve

*****BATTALION 5*********

Comment—I can't remember when I have seen rain exactly like this in my 30+ years here, slow and steady for days.  I think we all know that it's very likely a large patch of dirt will move somewhere.  That said, in a progressive emergency such that this would be (if it happens) professional emergency assets will be able to handle the situation.  So the chances for a CERT callout are remote to non-existent.  However, it is our duty to be ready, so I ask that each of us read and implement the next drill.  Read on.....

Battalion 5 Readiness Exercise—Today I ask that each of us seriously consider the possibility of a callout for a situation most of us never expected; flood or major mud slide.  Take a few minutes to actually pack that three-day bag we keep talking about.  Yes, pull the bag out and do this.  Check to see that you have portable food and water for at least 24 hours, and any medications you will need for three days.  Throw some extra rain gear in there.  Is the footwear you were planning to wear at least water resistant?  Time to do something about that if it is not (yeah, yeah, this guy's got a thing about boots, I know).  How about the bag you put everything in, any water resistance there?  Might need a couple of extra trash bags to address that.  Last, check that Go-bag and make sure it is ready to go.

Again, this is just a personal drill, give it  a try and see how it comes out, plan to deal with any issues you find.  Let's all hope that once again we don't need it.

Now might be a good time for this reminder; you CANNOT DEPLOY as CERT in a progressive emergency without an explicit order from your Team Leader, which he cannot give until he gets one from me or my boss.  THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS.  No matter how much you want to help, please don't do it.  Rest assured we stay on top of this stuff, if CERT is deployed, you'll know.  As always, what you do as a private citizen is your affair, but when you put on that helmet and vest, it has to be under orders.

Continuing Education—Urban Survival Seminar, Saturday, 8 January 2011 down at the NTC, from 10am—12noon.  Beach Team is sponsoring, so they get first priority on sign up.  Signup for the rest of us commences on 12/23.  The classroom is large as you know, so there shouldn't be any problem.  Please note that you cannot take this for CE credit if you took the class in the last 12 months.

I recommend this class, the speakers are highly entertaining, and the information is very valuable.  Don't forget the potato, they aren't kidding about that.

Go here for signup:

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

Occasional Rant—I have been following a discussion thread on a CERT Linkedin group for the past several weeks.  The original title is "Has CERT lost it's focus?".  There are over 70 responses so far, and it seems to be gaining momentum.  I'm not surprised that people struggle with this.  Our mission is similar to that of a Peace time military organization; we train relentlessly to fight a war that we hope doesn't happen.  It is easy to take the eyes off the prize, especially if you live in parts of the country where earthquakes, tornadoes, wildfires or whatever are not likely.  We don't have that luxury (okay, tornadoes are rare) and still I know it is difficult to give up nights and Saturdays for training.  In this coming year, I encourage you to focus on being ready.  I and your Team Leader will focus on helping you to be ready.  That's plenty of focus.  Isn't it?

Happy Holidays!

-Steve

Winterize your Emergency Kits

Winterize your Emergency Kits: "

Now is the time to check all your battery operated devices such as flashlights, radios, gps, etc. Make sure their batteries are fresh and no corrosion has occurred. Collect additional fresh backup batteries for all your battery operated devices. Review your emergency clothing. With winter approaching its time to ensure you have adequate protection from the elements; good waterproof and insulated boots, gloves, hats and appropriate coats for your region. To support potential evacuations, make sure your cars are winterized with adequate antifreeze, windshield washer fluid and additional heating devices as required by your locale. This is also a good time to test fire your emergency generator to ensure rapid starts during power outages.

This information has been provided for our CERT group’s use courtesy of GetReadyGear

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