Oh Yes!!! Oh No!!!

[hollyking]

Had a good time at my first Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class tonight. Since the first session was just an overview we just covered material I had already studied in earlier emergency training. A big "Yes!" for finding out that next week we'll be going to the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Regional Training Center (How's that for our government naming at work?) to learn about fire fighting and actually get to fight a few small fires during the training! Whee! A bit "No!" for finding out that the last session of the class will be a half-day emergency exercise where they will test our new skills. Ugh!

There was an interesting mix of students today. Of course, there were a lot of people who were already involved in some sort of emergency service. A few guys wanted to become police officers so they attended to beef up their applications. Quite a few were retired police officers or fire fighters. Some people wanted get training to help their families in an emergency situation. One guy was an immigrant from India where he had helped his community after a typhoon and wanted to do the same thing in his new homeland. We had a mix of ages and genders, there was even a family of three who were involved in emergency training together.

During the class we covered a high overview of first aid during an emergency situation. Throw everything you think you know about first aid out the book. Most first aid training covers what to do when you have supplies and can expect an ambulance or other response in 10 minutes. During an emergency scenario you might be cut off from emergency services for days. You have to do your best to help the most people in the shortest amount of time. Forget CPR. After an earthquake an ambulance might not be able to get to your location. Instead of spending the time to prolong the life of someone in cardiac arrest, who you can't save, you should spend the time helping those with lesser injuries you can save. That is quite a sobering thought that I could see some of the people in class hadn't considered. We'll be forced to make the choices of who can be helped and who we have to leave behind.

A positive thought from class is that you, not a professional emergency responder, will be the first response on the scene. It's those first few moments during an emergency that can make the difference for so many people. Ordinary people can help each other to survive a disaster. Do you have the supplies to live for 72 hours after an emergency? I urge you all to spend some time at the FEMA website. A little bit of reading now can make a big difference later. If you read nothing else, please read FEMA's guide, "Are You Ready?" If you have any questions or need more information, let me know. I have a lot of information about the subject and am gathering more every day.

Finally, one last request. When a disaster does strike what's the first public service lost? The phones. When people here of a disaster one of the first things they do is call their friends in family in the affected area. For me, that could be up to 10 phone calls. Now multiply that across the number of people in Beaverton and you can see how it could quickly overload and disrupt the phone system. Setup a communications plan with your family. Here is my personal plan as an example. If anything happens here I will call my brother in Kansas City. Anyone in my family who wants an update should call Tim for information. The same is true in the other direction. If something happens in Kansas City, Tim should call me and I'll spread the news to the rest of the family. If something happens in St. Louis my mother should call me, and if anything happens in Alabama my uncle should call my mother. If people follow this plan it would ease the load on the phone system and allow emergency messages to be sent.

Comments

[linuss503.livejournal.com]

that final paragraph, I can totally appreciate after 9/11. Not to be trite, but my mom and I were on the road between St.L. and here, and my brother in Manhattan - we spent a couple of hours in a hotel room trying to reach my bro to make sure everything was okay (esp. as he works for a co. that had offices in the WTC). It is definitely a good idea to have a chain of communication intact in case of emergency

[sharkcandy.livejournal.com]

How funny-A long time ago, my grandma signed me up to be a professional 'victim' in those training classes. We wear fake blood and prostetics...
Good times...good times....

[hollyking.livejournal.com]

There were a few of those there too. They wanted to experience the exercise from the other side of the makup. ;)

I don't think I've seen you comment on my journal before. Welcome. How did you find me? I'm always interested in how I get noticed.

[sharkcandy.livejournal.com]

I found you through a 25 and up site. You were being represented by Brendan(?) Anyway, nice to 'meet' ya!

[hollyking.livejournal.com]

Ahh... Pleased to meet you. ;) Brendan's my name. ;)