Mira Mesa CERT newsletter

Good afternoon, a day late, here is the News:

Hours for September—Please report your hours to me before Friday at Noon, please.  This is also a DSW card month, if you think you are up for renewal or a new card, and we have not conversed this month, drop me a note.  Those of you I have talked with, I think we are in pretty good shape.

Team Meeting—No formal meeting in October.  We've got something better to do.  See next announcement.

The Haunt is Back!—That's right, it just got approved for Continuing Education.  Drill date is Thursday, 13 October, probably 6-9pm.  Yes, I know that's soon, sorry for the short notice.  For those of you who are new, last year we ran a search and rescue drill using the Mira Mesa Haunted House as a venue.  The Haunt's tight multiple rooms and the weird venue overall made for a great experience.  This year it is fully enclosed, so it is even more maze-like.  This is a great drill, if you can possibly make it mark your calendar.  Signup should go up on the website this Monday.  I will let you know as soon as it goes up.

That's all for now.  I'll  get the Battalion News out as soon as I can, but it might be tomorrow, I suddenly have a lot on my plate.  This year I have a Committee drawn from the Leadership group, so I'll have a lot more help.  We should be able to pull this off.

Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

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CERT Friend Requests

Dear Current and Former CERT members:

I rarely do much with Facebook but I recently realized that CERT could take advantage of it's capabilities.  This came about due to making a link with another person and a "mutual friend" suggestion came up for a CERT organization in another state.  Whoa there!  What a concept...  An online network for CERT able to pass on-site info and training tips via Facebook, plus a great way to introduce your non-CERT friends to the idea of self-reliance.

So right now I'm going through my list of people I have met through CERT and asking to friend me.  Feel free to let me know what you think by commenting here.

Terry Walters
Mira Mesa CERT

New Digital Communications Recommendations to Help Americans Prepare in Advance of an Emergency

New Digital Communications Recommendations to Help Americans Prepare in Advance of an Emergency: WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2011 - Recent weather events such as Hurricane Irene, the earthquake on the East Coast and other natural disasters highlight the need for Americans to prepare for emergencies. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross, the Ad Council and Google Crisis Response are collaborating to launch a new preparedness web resource, Get Tech Ready, on behalf of the Ready campaign.

Released just before the start of National Preparedness Month, this new resource educates individuals and families about how using modern-day technology can help them prepare, adapt and recover from disruptions brought on by emergencies or disasters.

A recent American Red Cross survey showed that the internet, including online news sites and social media platforms, is the third most popular way for Americans to gather emergency information and let their loved ones know they are safe.

"As technology becomes more a part of our daily lives, people are turning to it during emergencies as well. We need to utilize these tools, to the best of our abilities, to engage and inform the public, because no matter how much federal, state and local officials do, we will only be successful if the public is brought in as part of the team," FEMA Administrator, W. Craig Fugate.

"During Hurricane Irene, we saw people using new technologies in many ways, whether it was thousands of people downloading our new shelter finder App or others using our Safe and Well site and social media to let their friends and family know they are OK, " said Gail McGovern, President and CEO of the American Red Cross. "People now have more varied resources available at their fingertips that they can use before, during and after emergencies."

Get Tech Ready provides Americans with tips on how to use technological resources before, during and after a crisis to communicate with loved ones and manage your financial affairs. Preparedness tips on the website include:

• Learn how to send updates via text and internet from your mobile phone to your contacts and social channels in case voice communications are not available;

• Store your important documents such as personal and financial records in the cloud or on a secure and remote area or flash or jump drive that you can keep readily available so they can be accessed from anywhere; and

• Create an Emergency Information Document using the Ready.gov Family Emergency Plan template in Google Docs or by downloading the Ready Family Emergency Plan to record your emergency plans.

"Get Tech Ready is a resource that will truly help people in the US and around the world understand how they can use widely available technology to prepare for potential crises," said Nigel Snoud, Product Manager, Google Crisis Response. "We're thrilled to be working with FEMA, the American Red Cross, and the Ad Council on this public service project."

"We are delighted to collaborate with FEMA, Google and the American Red Cross to expand our Ready messages through this new web site to educate more Americans about the vital need to get prepared in advance of an potential emergency," said Peggy Conlon, president & CEO of the Ad Council. "The web site will provide access to critical resources to Americans addressing the importance of using technology as part of their individual and family preparedness plans."

Launched in 2003, National Preparedness Month is designed to encourage Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies throughout the year. The Ready campaign was also launched in 2003 by FEMA in partnership with the Ad Council. Since its launch, media outlets have donated more than $900 million in advertising time and space for the PSAs. The new PSAs will air in advertising time that will be entirely donated by the media.

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

AMERICAN RED CROSS

The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides emotional support to victims of disasters; supplies nearly half of the nation's blood; teaches lifesaving skills; provides international humanitarian aid; and supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable organization — not a government agency — and depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to perform its mission. For more information, please visit http://www.redcross.org/ or join our blog at http://blog.redcross.org.

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter

Good morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting—No formal meeting next month, the Street Fair will count as a Team Meeting for anyone who wants to attend.

Street Fair— Saturday, 17 September, 10:00am—5pm. I think we have six signed up so far.  Next week I will have a demo schedule put together, we'll start putting people in slots at that time.  I'm sure we'll have some basic rescue/transport.  After the exercise with USAR, I realize that we don't work much on actually securing a patient to a backboard/litter so they don't fall off/out, so we'll do some of that.  Also we'll have the infamous knot-tying class, and this time I will successfully execute a Carrick Bend.  We'll do wound care also if we can get the materials, but I think we'll not bring out any moulage, great idea, but I'd want to make that the focus of some event if we go to the effort.  Cribbing if we can get that many people at one time, we'll see.  Needs at least five and that's a lot to invest in one slot.  Your thoughts on this are welcome.  I'm going to open this up to the rest of the Battalion in the Battalion News today, we'll see who we can get from the other Teams.

Scripps Ranch Cribbing Drill—Scripps Ranch Team has graciously invited us to participate in their cribbing exercise Tuesday 27 September, 7:00pm in the Scripps Ranch Library (note we're talking September, not this Saturday).  If you want to go, let me know, I'm putting this out in that Battalion News also.

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

-Steve

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The Indiana State Fair Incident

The Indiana State Fair Incident: Thanks Mary for bringing this to my attention! This article was taken from an Emergency Management blog. GO CERT!!I don't know if these were Indiana CERT members that this article talks about as civilian responders, but it sure sounds like it.



The Indiana State Fair Incident

August 15, 2011





This past Saturday night, an outdoor stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair, killing five and injuring approximately 50 spectators. The stage had been setup for a Sugarland concert and there had been severe weather passing through the area with very strong winds that subsequently resulted in a catastrophic failure of the stage and canopy. Even though this incident is still being investigated, there are several important lessons learned that emergency management professionals can immediately recognize and apply.



Simply stated -- this incident highlights the very fine line that we, as a society, walk between normal days and normal accidents. Charles Perrow describes “normal accidents” as the unexpected interaction between component failures in a system. In this incident, the interaction between the environment (severe weather) and technology lead to a very unexpected event -- a Black Swan Event, if you will.



As I watched and listened the events unfold via social media and public safety radio communications, there were several lessons learned that were readily apparent but here are the three most important for us to remember:



•The first responders were civilian bystanders and they did an amazing job. These people took immediate action, helped the injured, rendered first aid, and reported valuable information into “the cloud”. Each and every one of them should be commended for their selfless actions in a dangerous and chaotic scene. As emergency planners, we must recognize the importance of civilian responders in large scale disasters -- support them!•Social media played an unbelievable role sharing information. From across the country and sitting behind my computer screen, I had pictures and videos of the incident before the news media reported anything. I knew what collapsed and where, I had approximate numbers of people killed and injured, and where they were transported. I knew approximately many patients went to each hospital, which hospitals were on divert, and which hospitals were still accepting patients -- all via social media! If you have not embraced social media for emergency management use, you are only hurting yourself. Social media is an amazing resource when used appropriately and provides near real-time information on dynamic incidents -- use it!

•We cannot become complacent and fatigued when it comes to the planning process. I am not saying, however, that this occurred here but this incident should act as a reminder that we must be prepared for worst-case scenarios through exercising, collaborative planning processes, dynamic, bi-directional information sharing (both vertically and horizontally), and excellent preparedness capabilities. Like it or not, as emergency services we are all on the same team -- act like it.

Unfortunately, incidents like this happen and will continue to happen despite our best efforts to limit their occurrence and consequences. Bottom line -- thank civilian responders but give them the training and resources they need to stay prepared, embrace social media as the resource we know it is and use it, and stay open-minded when planning for the consequences of vulnerabilities and risks.



Then check this link out:

http://plcert.typepad.com/cert/2011/08/indiana-state-fair-stage-collapse.html

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter

Good morning, a day late, here is the news:

Team Meeting—The tenth in September is a Saturday, and I'm already looking for a commitment from everyone who can possibly make it to the Street Fair the following Saturday, 17 September.  I really don't want to ask for two September Saturdays in a row, so no meeting on the tenth.  What we might do if we decide to do a rescue demo of some sort is hold a practice the previous Tuesday or Wednesday, the 13th or 14th in the evening.

Street Fair— Saturday, 17 September, 10:00am—5pm.  This is a big block of time, and if we are going to run any demos, we'll need a lot of people.  If you can possibly put in some time that Saturday, drop me an email TODAY with your preferred time slots.   I'm looking for a minimum of two hours.  I'm going to open this up to the rest of our battalion next week as well as Battalion 7 (Scripps Ranch, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos), but I want to have something a little more concrete to say about what kind of training they could get if they show up.  For you guys, the hook is we need more Members, we all know that.  So please, invest some time in this, let's pack that next Academy with our people.  We are normally positioned on Camino Ruiz, East side almost to New Salem, where the Fair ends. they usually put Engine Company 38 right on the end, then we're next, that lets 38 get out if they need to leave on a call, which they usually do.

October Meeting—I'm bringing this up now because the tenth falls on a holiday for a lot of people (Columbus Day).  So it's the end of a three day weekend, I can't think that we'll get a big turnout.  Also, The Senior Center won't be open.  I think we will move this a few days into the week, possibly Wednesday, and have a final meeting at the rally point before Daylight Saving Time ends.

That's all for this week, Battalion News follows (eventually).  Questions, comments, you know how to find me.

-Steve

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Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 8/9/11

Good morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting—Tomorrow night, 10 August 2011.  Start at 6:00pm, end at 7:00pm.  We'll be at the Senior Center on Mira Mesa Blvd, Between New Salem/Reagan and Camino Ruiz.  I think they will have us in their Media Center, when you come in the main entrance, it is on the left about half-way down the hall.  Should be line dancing in the main hall I think, don't get pulled in to that.  We'll talk about National Preparedness Month in September.  Please bring your best ideas.  If there is an event where we can get a free table, or a local gathering where we can send someone in to say a few words about CERT, and you can get us in, let's talk.  In fact, it doesn't have to be local, if you belong to some group that meets in San Diego someplace, that's fair game also.  Also, we want to build up some skills demonstrations for the Street Fair, and get some people signed up to do them.  Bring your thoughts about that also.  I really think that should take up our hour, but I'll bring a small triage exercise just in case.

Next Meeting—The tenth falls on Saturday next month, but I would really like to see everyone who can commit some time to the Street Fair the following Saturday, 17 September .  That's probably our best recruiting opportunity for the year here in Mira Mesa.  If anything, we might set something up in the week before the 17th on some evening to practice some demos we will run at the Fair.  I can get equipment and a practice dummy before the event if we need them.

Street Fair—I'm looking for at least a two hour commitment from anyone available.  Attendance at the Street Fair usually counts as a Team Meeting, I'll confirm this.  Please let me know if you think you can do this.  With enough people we can put on a pretty good show.  The goal is to get their attention so they come talk to us.  You all know we need more people, so put this on your calendar.

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

-Steve

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Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 8/2/11

Good morning, here is the Team news:

Team Meeting—10 August 6:00-7:00pm.  We'll be at the Senior Center on Mira Mesa Blvd, Between New Salem/Reagan and Camino Ruiz.   Discussion/ideas for National Preparedness Month.  I think I will cook up a triage exercise also in case we have some time left, so please take a moment to look at your manuals and refresh your memories.

Reporting your hours—Several of us did not report attendance at last month's team meeting.   Please remember to drop me a note reporting ANY training you took or other volunteer time you put in, even if I saw you there.  We need this redundancy to ensure that there are no mistakes.  Thanks

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

-Steve

USAR Drill

I just got this in, the USAR is conducting a drill and we are being asked to participate.  This is a wonderful opportunity, because it emulates a potential real situation, where CERT would be the first to arrive, set up ICS, perform light rescue, triage, wound care, all of our skills, then we do the handoff to elements of USAR as they arrive on scene.  CERT will do this for the first few hours of the drill, then after the handoff most of the participating CERT will act as victims for the USAR at least part time during the rest of the drill.  CERT will probably not spend the whole time in the victim rolls, it appears that there will be some opportunity to shadow the drill proctors and observe the ICS operation.  Assignments will be on an as-needed basis, so you don't really know what you will be doing during the drill.  All in all this looks like it might be a good opportunity to observe the USAR in action and show them what we can do.  And, it is good for a CE.

Please download and read the agenda carefully:

http://www.sitetuneups.biz/CERT/CERT_Agenda_for_USAR_Exercise.pdf

Note that this is a LONG exercise, 7am-6pm,  and there will be some physical challenges, as well as possibly long periods of waiting.  Also, it is NOT a refresher, you will be expected to know the things you are supposed to know, so take another look at that manual.  If there are parts of CERT  operations you really don't like to participate in, this is not your drill.  I don't know if there will be a lunch break, or many other comforts (a lot like the real thing).  This is on a Thursday, August 11.  Location is Chula Vista Fire Station 4/Training facility.

ALL OF COUNTY CERT CAN PARTICIPATE IN THIS DRILL.  Sign up early for this if you want to go:

https://apps.sandiego.gov/ereg/cert/register.php?id=391

-Steve

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Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 7/26/11

Good morning, here is the news:

Training Hours Due—Please have your hours in to me by this Sunday Afternoon.  You should include the full name of the class, the Sponsor if it was not CERT, the Instructor's name and the number of hours you were engaged.

Team Meeting—10 August 6:00-7:00pm.  We'll be at the Senior Center on Mira Mesa Blvd, Between New Salem/Reagan and Camino Ruiz. Bring your ideas for reaching our Community during National Preparedness Month.  Every family that gets prepared makes our job easier when a disaster strikes.

Street Fair—17 September.  Morning and afternoon shifts will be available.  Please plan to spend some time with us that Saturday, we need you.

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

-Steve

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Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 7/19/11

Good morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting—10 August 6:00-7:00pm.  We'll be at the Senior Center on Mira Mesa Blvd, Between New Salem/Reagan and Camino Ruiz.  It's on the North side of Mira Mesa Blvd., so you have to be Westbound to turn in to it, unless of course you do some really creative off-roading (not recommended, they just got some decent landscaping in that center divide).  I'd love to get some triage work in, but I think we'd better get our story nailed down for National Preparedness Month, it will be our last meeting before that happens.  Please bring your good ideas, we need to reach the Community.

National Preparedness Month—This is a National Effort, sponsored by the Ready Campaign (a FEMA program) and the Citizen Corps.  So we can expect some Public Relations air cover.  Our objectives locally are to encourage more citizens to be prepared for disaster, and recruit members to our Team.  Preparing Mira Mesa is fundamental to our success.  It's a simple formula, every family that is prepared to deal with disaster is one more family we don't have to rescue.  As you think about how we might approach our Community, assume that we can get you some promotional materials (fliers, brochures etc.) and we may even be able to come up with a tabletop display.  As I'm sure you know, most retailers are not excited about camping outside their doors.  Even if it is your right to do so, I'm not excited about making local store management mad at us, so let's avoid that unless you have some sort of in with management at a local retailer.  I'm talking about putting in a presence at a social or professional group you belong to.  Perhaps they will let you say a few words at your next meeting, or set up a table, that sort of thing.  Public speaking not your thing?  Line up the opportunity, I'll try to make as many of them as I can (I don't lack for a word very often).  If you have an idea, please run it past me, then make the approach, and do it SOON.  September is already well on the radar for most organizations, if you want to get included in something, this really is pretty close to the last minute.  For all that you do, remember these three things:

·         Get buy-in from CERT through me.  SDFR needs to know where you are and what you are doing.  Enough said.

·         ASK PERMISSION from the group or other entity you want to work with.  Get me involved if it helps.  But don't just show up someplace.

·         You are CERT, a proud member of a wonderful volunteer organization dedicated to helping others when disaster happens.  Your dedication and commitment commands respect.  Remember that when you put on the green.

Street Fair—17 September.  Mark the Calendar, and plan to spend a few hours, we really need the help.  Morning and afternoon shifts will be available.  This is probably our best opportunity to have a real impact on our Community for National Preparedness Month.  I really want to get a group together before the Fair and practice some demos we can do to demonstrate our purpose and skills.  We could do this in our regular Team Meeting slot the Saturday before, but that's two Saturdays in a row, so maybe we'll schedule some time in the evening during the week.  Still working through the details, I'll have more next week.

That's all for this week.  Questions, comments, GREAT IDEAS, drop me a note.

-Steve

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QuickTips for July – Important Information Needed After A Disaster

QuickTips for July – Important Information Needed After A Disaster: "

Think of what information you will need to carry on after a disaster. Much, but not all, of our important information today is stored in our computers. Copies of this information should be kept in a safe place such as a safe deposit box, at a relative’s house, outside the house with other disaster supplies or in a go-bag. Thumb drives could be very useful to store this information. If you are not computer capable, make do with copy machines.

Here is a list of items to get you started:

• Wills, insurance policies (home and autos), mortgage papers, deeds, Passports, driver licenses and credit cards (both sides), social security and medicare cards


• Birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates


• Bank and Brokerage account numbers and institution names


• Important phone numbers and addresses


• Health policy numbers and immunization records

You will also need information to file claims with FEMA and insurance companies. The sooner you can file, the sooner you will receive funds to begin rebuilding. This advice can save you MAJOR time and money.

To help support your claims you should have:

• Photos of every room, every closet, cupboard, drawer and cabinet as well as the exterior of the house and autos. These are the “before” photos so you can prove damage.

While you are gathering all of these “official” items, you might also want to store a copy of all of those digital family photos to protect family memories.

"

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 7/12/11

Good morning, here is the news:

Team Meeting— 10 August, 6:00pm—7:00pm.  We have space reserved at the Senior Center.  I'm thinking we will work on triage fundamentals, excepting those who just graduated from Academy, it has been awhile for many of us.  We'll do a review of the procedure, various marking methods, and then get right to practice.  I'll try to come up with something creative for practice, but I'll be going for brain-numbing repetition, this is one of those things that we all need to be able to just do without thinking about it too much, and for most of us there is only one way for that to happen.  Finally we'll try to squeeze in more time talking about National Preparedness Month.  If we have enough good ideas to discuss, then we'll put off the triage practice for October I think, and just work on our plans.

National Preparedness Month—Great meeting last Sunday, but we didn't get to put a lot of time in on this.  September is National Preparedness Month.  I understand that there is a media campaign being put in place for this.  Basically we have the opportunity to go out in the Community in our gear and promote personal/family preparedness as well as recruit for CERT.  With any luck at all we will have an Academy on the schedule by then (so I'm told) that we can use as a call to action.  There are a ton of possibilities, here are two to think about; if you know of an organization that is having a gathering, like a harvest festival or block party, perhaps we can set up a table there.  Or, if you are a member of a community-based organization, we might be able to get a few minutes at their September event/meeting to say a few words about preparedness and CERT.  If you want me to address your group, I'm happy to do that if I can squeeze it on my calendar.  Whatever you do, it needs to be approved in advance.  This won't be a big deal, the point is you should not pop up in the Community in your emergency kit when the SDFR/CERT doesn't know about it.  That's a bad thing.  Please remember we already have the Street Fair on 17 September, probably our best chance to hit a large local audience, so I hope you will mark your Calendar and make plans to join us then, we need all the CERT people we can get to really put on a show.  With any luck at all, we can get some decent rescue practice in with the deal.  Please send your ideas in, I'd love to see the next Academy start with about 40 locals in it, and remember, every person we can convince to do basic preparation is one more individual/family we may not have to rescue on the day.

That's all for this week, Battalion News follows, questions, comment, you know how to find me.

Mira Mesa Team Newsletter 7/5/11

Good morning, I hope everyone had a nice holiday, here is the News:

Training Hours—I have attached our training hours report to this email.  Please let me know if you cannot open it.  We are trying this in the entire organization to make our training reports more accurate.  Please review this TODAY if at all possible and let me know if you see any issues with regards to the training you took in June.  Sorry for the short notice, but I need to get our hours in TOMORROW first thing, so please jump on this for me.

Team Meeting—Sunday, 10 July, 9:00am at our rally point, near the Recreation Center on New Salem Drive, just East of Mira Mesa Blvd.  I think I will give a short talk to get us all on about the same page, then we will run at least two scenarios.  I urge everyone to at least take the first of the five online ICS classes that are required of everyone before this meeting, you'll find it invaluable.  Also, we will be looking for fresh ideas for this year's Street Fair (more in the next item).  Should be a fast moving meeting, see you there.  I think this one will run a bit over, but we should be done by 10:15-10:20.  BRING a CHAIR or something to sit on, we'll be out in the park.  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is NOT required for this meeting.  Lots of water and sunscreen (even at that hour) are good ideas.

That's all for this week, Battalion News follows.  Won't be a lot in there, things should pick up moving into August.

-Steve