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News Archive 2004 and before December 2004During the past fifteen months we've had a jam-packed calendar of activities under the Fresno Citizen Corps. Notable results are the completion of twelve CERT Basic class series for about 200 graduates (including a Business CERT pilot), two Advanced CERT series (ARC's Shelter Management and the FPD's Terrorism), participation in the City-wide Annual Disaster Exercise (Evacuating about 50 Mobile Home Park residents to an ARC Shelter), distributing-installing Smoke Detectors in targeted Mobile Home Parks, and the induction of Fifty-One background-checked CERTeams now sworn under the State of California Disaster Worker Program (DSW). Adoption of a working model for Spontaneous Unaffiliated Volunteers (SUV's). Identification of community SUV assembly and screening points - layout, signage, process-flow points. Work on Donations Inventory Management via the Internet. Big steps for a new almost all-volunteer program! Fresno CERT Alert Newsletter November 2004 (PDF) Latest Fresno Citizen Corps Newsletter September 2004 (PDF) Latest Fresno Citizen Corps Newsletter September 2004 (DOC) CERT Class 12 graduated November 12, 2004. This class was an accelerated four-day series for AmeriCorps Safe and Proud Neighborhood program. We also added Flood Fight as a module. This new module was conducted partially in the classroom and out in the City of Fresno Municipal Service Center. Was it real planning - cause we filled sand bags as the rain fell. Trainees got sand everywhere, gloves, face mask and shoes! Glen did a superb job teaching this new session. Congratulations to CERT Class 10 graduating October 27, 2004. Go to the photo section to see them in action. The all-volunteer instructor team will deliver an in-house training early November 2004 for about 40 incoming AmeriCorps members participating in a year-long project through the Fresno County Economic Opportunity Commission under their Local Conservation Corps program entitled Safe and Proud Neighborhoods. It is now launched, CERT Volunteers operating under City of Fresno Fire Department will carry the concept of Fire Corps. Fire Corps will help support Fire Fighters in various ways. Hydrant Maintenance, long-term hydration, smoke detectors in Mobile Home Parks and other such support activity. Fire Corps will not be firefighters nor will they be within a fire scene. We are delivering an in-house CERT Training series for employees of a large government agency beginning late October 2004. The next public training cycle will probably begin January 2005 - stay tuned for specific dates. Saturday September 17th we installed 33 smoke alarms in a mobile home park that suffered a recent death because a smoke alarm was not functioning. We swore in more than 50 CERT Members on Patriots Day Saturday September 11, 2004. New Green hard-hats, CERT Vests and go-bags were issued. CERT Members will work in areas of Neighborhood Prevention, Mediation, Response and Recovery. These "Second-Responders" will provide support in various ways to stretched First Responders when a disaster occurs. Sergeant Don Gross of the Fresno Police Department along with Fresno Fire Department Captain Clint Nichols encouraged the CERT Members to remain active through regular continuing education and community service. Go to the Photo Page and view pictures of the searing-in. After the swearing-in on Patriots Day, several CERT Members helped canvass a mobile-home park to insure working smoke alarms. There was a fatality the previous week in this park because of a non-working smoke alarm. The City of Fresno Fire Prevention Division arranged for donated alarms and fresh batteries. Several CERT Graduates have asked what they can do in their own Neighborhood. We added a paragraph on our CERT Fresno Home page to direct you to a West Valley City Utah CERT Publication called "Organizing Neighborhoods for Disaster Preparedness". The whole organizing process is carefully laid out. Class Eight's unit on Search and Rescue Wednesday July 7th was led by Fresno County Sheriff Search and Rescue Volunteer Bill Allen. We're fortunate to have the use of American Ambulance's class room! CERT Alert June 2004 (Adobe PDF File) CERT Alert June 2004 (WORD .DOC File) OK we deployed a CERT pilot Rehabilitation Team on July 4th. As this was a pilot for possible future CERT Volunteers we had CERT Grads Carla Glazebrook, her son Blake (just out of basic Air Force Training) and Cedric Reese. The Firefighters Union Local purchased bottled Gatorade, Water and High-Carbo snacks. We loaded up the pickup truck at Station 3, got some chalk-talk training on setting up the unit on-site from Fire Captain Clint Nichols (The Father of CERT Fresno!) and then we waited to be dispatched. We listened to the Fire Frequencies - and waited. We toured Station 3 (built in 1927) - and we waited. We watched Engine Three run Code 3 all around - and we waited. So as promised either the evening was to be really quiet..... or really busy. Our draw was a quiet evening and we never did get dispatched. Which is a good thing really as there was less fire destruction and personal losses this July 4th. If you are a CERT Grad and wish to get involved in supporting the Fresno City Fire Department with assignments like this in the future - let us know. CERT Fresno will be deploying a Fresno City Fire Department Mobile Rehabilitation Unit for July 4th. July 4th is a very hectic time for firefighters. With holiday drinking, numerous fireworks and residents unfamiliarity with "Safe and Sane" handling of those fireworks firefighters can be stretched to near limits from an almost overwhelming number of fire calls. Roof fires from illegal bottle rockets, dry grass in empty fields and improper disposal of spent fireworks are amongst the many kinds of calls. The Rehabilitation Unit will provide firefighters with water, ability to wash away the soot and grime, rest and time away from the fire line on long duration fire calls. Thanks to Capitan Clint Nichols and Fire Chief Randy Bruegman for arranging this volunteer activity. Thanks also to the Fresno Firefighters Union Local for providing water and high-carbohydrate snacks. CERT Instructor grad Fresno City Fire Captain Jose "Tony" Escobedo has been appointed Public Information Officer for FFD. Here is a picture of Tony in his most majestic look (Photo copyright of Janeen Sanders by permission)!
June 9th was the start of our eighth class series. It was standing room only (no additional registrations can be made) as Gwen led the opening Unit. Police Lt Tony Bennick provided opening remarks thanking attendees for coming. He mentioned the Fresno Police Department in particular realizes how critical volunteers are to their mission. Carla Glazebrook talked about the Fresno Citizen Corps mission. Almost 200,000 Citizens have graduated from CERT courses nationwide to date. Here is a graphical representation of how CERT fits within Fresno Citizen Corps:
The RAND Corporation Health Section has published a study entitled Public Health Preparedness in California. Here is the link to download the full 166 page report http://www.rand.org/publications/MG/MG247/MG247.pdf Researchers visited seven selected California counties (Fresno County was NOT in the research study) and found major deficiencies in public health operations. We graduated Class Seven on Saturday May 22nd. We will now start the Class Eight series on Wednesday's June 9th through July 28th. Last week on April 29th we presented 26 CERT Graduate Certificates to Class Six. After a chaos-filled final it was bittersweet to see the end of basic CERT Training for Class 6. This week, we start CERT Class 7 Tuesday May 4th. April 21st, Gwen presented a portion of the CERT course on Disaster Medical Operations to the Fresno Police Departments Patrol Volunteers called COPS (Citizens on Patrol). About 70 COPS filled the City of Fresno Council Chamber for the two-hour presentation. Helping out were Glenn, Carla, Cedric Carol Borrego Lopez and Joe Lopez. While COPS are not first responders, these are good skills to have if the COPS come upon a Mass Casualty Incident as it unfolds. Treating the wounded in that first Golden Hour has proven to save lives. Good work Gwen. Last Thursday April 15th Fresno PD Police Reserve Sgt John Bradford presented Disaster Psychology section. Gwen and Glen talked about CERT Organization. Next week we lean about Terrorism. Pete Weber, Chair of Fresno Citizen Corps (CERT is a program of Fresno
Citizen Corps) receives a surprise volunteer award by City of Fresno Mayor Allan
Autry during annual luncheon of the Volunteer Bureau, The Las Vegas Citizen Corps staff of Paula Martel and Rick Diebold visited April 12th and 13th. Rick has management responsibility for CERT in Las Vegas and Paula has management responsibility for Medical Reserve Corps (MRC). Medical Reserve Corps is intended to use Medical Professionals as volunteers in a Mass Casualty Incident. As you may know CERT and MRG are companion programs. In this area our MRG is headed by Colonel William Carveth MD. Our posted May 2004 Schedule is now open for enrollment. The March-April series is/was oversubscribed, so you are encouraged to enroll for the May classes very soon. Submit your completed application ASAP as classes are available on a first-come basis. The March-April Thursday evening CERT Classes beginning March 11th are closed to further enrollment. Murph, Kevin, Gwen, Glenn and Carla ran the March 25th session On Medical Operation 1. Earlier on March 18th Glen led us in Fire Prevention, putting out small fires. The evals mentioned how much fun trainees had in learning this serious topic. The US Fire Administration has published a brochure on the role of Citizen Corps and First Responders. Click here for the new brochure as an PDF file. We are offering a two-session 12 hour Shelter Management course to CERT Graduates (and others who may have a responsibility for shelter management) in cooperation with The American Red Cross. The first session is April 20th from 5:30-9:30pm and the second is Saturday April 24th from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm as a Continuing Education offering. Both sessions will be held at Fresno Police Department Headquarters. The American Red Cross Fresno Chapter has agreed to train us in the skill of Shelter Management. Those attending must complete the first session. The first session is a group-study/video of four hours prior to the classroom training exercise of eight hours. We have guaranteed a minimum of fifteen trainees! Deadline for sign-up is April 1st (no fooling)! To become an American Red Cross approved shelter manager you must complete a separate ARC application, complete a background check and receive approval from the American Red Cross. Saturday February 21st we delivered the final two units in the regular CERT training cycle to seven graduates. In the morning we covered Terrorism and CERT. After lunch (thanks to food brought by Melissa and Ken) we ran the Final Simulation with the help of Gwen, Glen, John, Kenneth and Ali. The facilities at the old City Hall turned out to be ideal for such a simulation. Glen and Kenneth did an external size-up and conducted a SAR in the hallways. John and Ali applied moulage to CERT Graduated ED and Joe - that wound on Ed's arm was really ghastly we thought. Gwen facilitated the group in running an mock incident. Carla got her share of action pics I'm sure we'll soon see. While performing as a victim Saturday, Ed reported he was inventorying his own neighborhood to identify residence skills and residents resources. This is notable work to help prepare for a disaster as well as neighborhood development. Great work Ed! We used Fresno City Fire Station 3 Training facility for the Unit 2 Fire Suppression Unit. After blowing dust everywhere, Station 3 on-duty personnel hosed the dust away. CERT Trainees got an up-close look at Engine 3 and had a chance to interact with the firefighters. Captain Richard Esparza assisted Kevin McCarthy in the training session. Reserve Sergeant John Bradford was feeling better and helped in the fire suppression training. The February 2004 Training Cycle is now underway. Don't forget the Personal Protective Equipment that is required as well as the medical supplies to use in the Medical Operations classes. These purchases in addition to being used in the classroom help you to begin to gather items for a Disaster Go Kit. Our January training in Dunlap, the foothills about 40 miles east of Fresno helped us gain valuable experience in outreach effectiveness and efficiency. Thanks to Ali who recruited trainees and arranged the site (really a wonderful site), thanks also to Bill, Murph and Kenneth for delivering training. We had 13 registrants, with 7 graduating. We learned lessons future trainees might wish to know of. One lesson is that trainees MUST purchase their Personal Protective Equipment (Leather Gloves, Latex Gloves, Eye protection, hardhat, safety footwear, 4x4 dressings, triangular bandage etc) PRIOR to the first session when we offer multiple sessions in a single day. There is no time between modules during an all-day training to leave and purchase the items - this is especially so when the location is in a rural location without convenient retail stores. Another is when participating in an all day training, trainees should bring a brown-bag lunch as the luncheon period is usually 30 minutes making it difficult to travel somewhere off-site for lunch. The CERT Fresno AMERICORPS training finished January 14th, 2004. We trained 19 corps members (plus two Case Managers from Fresno EOC) for Fresno Safe and Proud Neighborhoods program. They will provide a broad range of public safety and disaster preparedness services to the community through program partners - Fresno Police Department, Care Fresno, Fresno Parks and Recreation Department, Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) Sanctuary and SOUL, Fresno Fire Department, Graffiti Abatement/Code Enforcement Division and the Fresno Citizen Corps. Trainees were presented to the City of Fresno Council and then met with Fresno Mayor Alan Autry in an evening reception January 14, 2004. We are now accepting applications from people ages 16 and 17 with written Parental Consent. Fresno suffered a recent death from fire in the Tower District last week because the family apparently did not have an family evacuation plan. The husband lost his life apparently looking for those already evacuated. A Harvard School of Public Heath study April 2003 found only 12% of families have a family evacuation plan. The Federal Emergency Management Administration's education section has a new on-line independent CERT Course for those who might have an interest in CERT or for those who have graduated seeking a refresher. It takes six to eight hours to complete. Click on this link http://www.training.fema.gov/emiweb/is/is317.asp This is NOT a substitute for nor does it provide equivalency for the 20 hour training provided by a FEMA course such as CERT Fresno. Rock and Roll is here to stay! The 6.5 Richter Scale San Simeon quake hit us yesterday December 22nd, 2003 at 11:17am, it took all of one minute for the ground wave to travel the130 plus miles from San Simeon to Fresno. Fortunately overall there were minor problems - but even two deaths in Paso Robles is so very unfortunate. Remember there WILL be aftershocks of at least 5.0 - and we don't know what pressure this four-miles down shift has now transferred to the San Andreas fault (this quake was on an unknown fault off the coast). The San Andreas fault running the length of the state is expected to be THE BIG ONE when it shakes. So, if this earthquake event didn't give us a wake-up to become disaster prepared what will? Interested residents seeking training in 2004 should download the training application on the Home Page, check the calendar of available dates and start on the road to becoming Disaster Prepared through CERT Training, Steve Bassett, a local HAM (Amateur Radio operator) is forming an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) Team to work with CERT and other Public Safety Agencies to provide communications during an emergency or disaster. Their first meeting is January 15th, 2004 in the Fresno Police Department annex building. Steve was previously active with CERT via ARES in the East Bay community of Fremont. CERT Training has two possible levels presently, the first level is for residents to recognize that in a multi-casualty disaster you must depend upon your own resource for up to 72 hours. At this first level CERT training helps you prepare your own resource because first responders in a disaster might be overwhelmed and simply unable to respond in your neighborhood. The second level is as a team member where CERT trained residents assist the community beyond your own neighborhood. News we have from Los Angeles CERT is that they have responded to the LA Fire Department call-outs recently. Here is what they reported on their web-site (la-cert.com):
And also as to how LA-CERT respond to incidents:
Please note - here in Central California the method of team organization and response remains to be finalized. The above discussion is for Los Angeles CERT and not Central California. Some issues we are studying for the future. Organization of CERT here in Central California and methods of response. Another issue - we do know that while a disaster by definition cannot be planned, there are common sectors that are impacted when a disaster occurs. We are examining the role CERT may play in these sectors. The sectors are:
Spontaneous volunteers are another issue. Spontaneous volunteers who show up without training can become a burden unless screened, quickly trained and channeled. Do this poorly and volunteerism gets a very public black eye. Issues of loaned equipment and donated supplies. One experience found 70% of donated supplies were unusable for reasons of product expirations or suitability of use. Yet another issue is "check the welfare" of residents who may or may not have been relocated. The question is how do residents re-connect with each other without impacting or overloading the urgent emergency communication system.
December 2003 Instructors met December 3rd at 6pm to celebrate our success and plan out the next six months of training for the period January through June 2004. We discussed possible curricula improvements. October 2003 October 28th we graduated our second class of fifteen CERT trained residents. Two additional trainees require just one make-up class of the 9 classes for their certificate. The final session was an exciting .....and just as in a real disaster - a chaotic activity. Trainees applied their learning in various scenarios. Fun but challenging - serious play may describe the process. Trainees had to don their personal protective equipment (PPE) including hard hats, goggles, gloves and heavy shoes in order to participate. Using their FRS radios they came close to the experience one would have in a disaster. Ali Umar talked about Terrorism on October 23rd. CERT members do not have the expensive suits and equipment required for a terrorism incident but CERT can help establish a safe perimeter and before that help notify the Public Safety Authorities when a suspicious activity is noticed or an incident has happened. October 21st John and Gwen delivered specifics of CERT Organization and conducted a simulation in how CERT might respond to an incident. The trainees had a chance to use CERT Documentation. Later in the same evening Ali shared his experiences and real-life adventurers with Unit 7 Disaster Psychology. Murph presented Medical Ops I October 9th. Attendees got lots of time hands-on to learn what the three killers are and how to conduct triage for a large group of people. Trainees have rated this session quite highly. Wendi and Blaine graduated and received their colorful CERT diplomas! Glen led the Fire Safety Unit October 7th. While a very serious matter we did learn how to safely approach a small fire using the buddy system to successfully extinguish a fire. But boy did each attendee get to blow powder everywhere! Glen has some very interesting anecdotes about fires and hazardous materials - thanks Glen! Wednesday evening, October 1st we started our second class cycle. Gwen led a lively discussion about what a disaster is. The 28 trainees learned how to prepare personally and for family. Things such as storing lots of water food and planning for escape routes. Thanks to American Ambulance for their fine new facility! Instructors, we're asking you to record your CERT donated time. An On-line Volunteer e-mail Time Sheet is located on the documents page. Click on the form and complete the information. As this is a server-based form there is some delay and lag in submission - however, those with patience are rewarded with a confirmation page reflecting their submission - This is an excellent way to show quantitatively how much CERT benefits the community.. The dedicated Fresno CERT Instructor Team (including Gwen, Glen, Ken, Ali, John, Bill, Tony and Mary - with support by Fresno Citizen Corps Carla) delivered a very-highly rated course - the evaluations absolutely prove it - THANK YOU! We have begun work on a Communications SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). Instructors are invited to review the discussion draft posted on a page on this site. There will be lots of revision before we are completed - so weigh in with your views please. Steve Bassett of the Fresno Amateur Radio Club (HAM Radio Group) is working to form a local ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) to participate with CERT and other Fresno Citizen Corps activities. Steve was active in the Fremont California CERT endeavor.
September and earlier 2003 The first graduates of CERT Fresno received their colorful certificates (From the hands of Fresno Police Department Lieutenant Tony Bennick) this past Saturday September 20th at the completion of their twenty-hour training. It was a historic moment for the time we started this project back in January 2003. This is the first class of many as CERT training ramps up in Central California. From a basic preparedness level, all we have to do is look at the East-Coast victims of last week's Tropical Storm Isabella to appreciate the fact we need to be prepared - many in those lines seeking food and water seen on television news were obviously not prepared! But you can be through simple steps learned in CERT before a major incident! Week of September 15th we passed the half-way point in training a pilot group of fifteen. Bill and Joel of the Sheriffs Search and Rescue team shared their skills and trained us on Saturday in Urban Search and Rescue. Thursday ending with John. The last Saturday saw the completion of the course with a capstone Disaster Simulation. Randy R. Bruegman was sworn in as the new City Fresno Fire Chief Monday September 15th 9am. Fresno Mayor Alan Autry committed to increasing resources for the FFD. Chief Bruegman talked about creating a strategic plan for the Fire Department as well as partnering with the community, developing trust internally and externally. Glen delivered a talk about CERT to the Lions Club on Monday, September 15th. There was a request originating from this meeting for special-needs preparedness training for disabled and seniors. The web site ReadyGov http://www.readygov.gov has information as well as links to other sites including the American Red Cross for family preparedness and special needs. September 6 we delivered the CERT Training to our first class. The instructors Gwen (Disaster overview) and Glen (Fire Suppression) did a marvelous job with nice ratings from the participants. We held a CERT Instructor social event and assembly Thursday August 21st. Several members volunteered to teach certain units. However, we are still looking for CERT Instructor Graduates to lead a few of the TBA September sessions. Contact Carla or Cedric to volunteer for one or more sessions. New Instructor presentation tips are on the Instructor page. July 30 and 31st we walked the area around the Crippen dump-site in West Fresno suffering from a spontaneous combustion problem and distributed 450 status flyers for the 75,000 ton material removal to take place over the next 3 months. Great PR for the FFD! This project web for CERT Fresno Instructors started July 20, 2003. It is a working site where CERT Instructors can exchange information about the CERT Program. When we change documents or instructional materials the updated items will be posted on this site. The most recent changes are listed first, and each item is linked to the page with the updated content. |
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Copyright 2003-2005 Fresno Citizen Corps. CERT Fresno funded in part by FEMA
through California Service Corps.
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