FEMA/ CERT

self ^ | 4th of July | self

[bboop]

Just curious for some feedback - CERT volunteers marched in our little Independence Day parade. They offer a course in 'emergency preparedness training.' Seems like a good thing, but I'd like to hear from folks who know. thanks

[mouser]

The Community Emergency Response Teams that I have been around were HAM radio groups their main goal was to setup and run emergency communications where needed

They do train in fire fighting first aid and other needed skills

When all other communication means fail there is HAM radio

[goodnesswins]

Friend of mine...very conservative. ..is on local CERT team...they prepare for when when SHTF.

[clee1]

CERT training is worth having.

W4CBL

[raybbr]

Are they government employees? Do they work for FEMA? I wouldn’t let a govt. employee anywhere near my personal information unless required by law.

[ptsal]

private citizens

[DesertRhino]

More of the FEMA/DHS national security cult

[UB355]

I Was in the fire service as a volunteer for many years. One good thing that FEMA implemented was National Incident Management System. (NIMS) is a standardized approach to incident management developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security.

It has greatly aided communication across agencies at incidents.

For instance everybody knows that “Command” is in charge rather then a specific person.

[CCGuy]

I’ve been a member of our local team for over 5 years.

I recommend it. It’s local in emphasis and gives some good general training.

[bboop]

private citizens/ volunteers from what I understand.

[bboop]

Thanks to all of you. I thot it did sound good, too.

[mouser]

When cell phones, landlines, the Internet is down and CERT is handling the emergency traffic they must have someone they can call and say we need cots or medical supplies or whatever FEMA and the RED CROSS is the to groups they talk to

The information FEMA has is pretty much very little if you go to WWW.ARRL.org and in license search type in my call sign W0OWE (W ZERO OWE) you can see my info they would have not much

[fatboy]

I’m a certified CERT Team Member. We/I don’t do anything but it’s basically up to the local team. The reason I’m on it is when it was first created they went to the local fire companies around here and used us a the nucleus of the thing. Getting certified is almost as easy as falling off of a chair.

The amount of required First Aid training is very minimal. I think they also require CPR. Your given a little bit of search and rescue training but no firefighting beyond what could be reasonably extinguished with a 2 pound ABC extinguisher.

The whole thing actually makes me nervous because the CERT team members that are outside of Fire and EMS don’t know what they don’t know. The saving grace is that no incident commander that I know of is going to send a CERT team on it’s own into some disaster area without a lot of supervision.

I know a lady at my workplace who is active in her local CERT team. They have been out on 1 call in the past 5 years. My county EMA director told me once that he would suggest CERT for an incident only after he was satisfied that he had every available volunteer firefighter and EMT in the county committed and still needed a few more hands.

To me if you want to get involved join a local SAR (search and rescue team), your local volunteer fire company or become a certified EMT and join an ambulance company as a volunteer first responder.

[MaxistheBest]

In Florida, it’s a big deal. I worked with FEMA through Red Cross during hurricane Charley and also the No-Name storm. I know many people here are not high on the Red Cross, but around here (Tampa Bay) they do a great job on disaster services.

I would recommend going through your local Red Cross... get involved with them first and then go for FEMA training. They will quickly get to rely on you in a pinch or a disaster.

[NewHampshireDuo]

My county’s ham radio team is ARES/RACES-CERT. It’s a backup communications team but we have to meet the requirements of Maine CERT in terms of basic knowledge and also understand the Incident Management System (ICS).

There are other opportunities in CERT for those who are not radio operators.

[Bayan]

You get some basic training and exposure to quite a lot of interesting information that probably you won’t see otherwise. In our area we were told that in the event of a major catastrophe, read hurricane, that nearly all the trained first responders were going to be tied up in the disaster zone and that on the periphery only volunteers like CERT people might be available to help people. How effective the CERT people might be depends entirely on whether or not they continue to train and exercise. It’s a good beginning and points you in the right direction. I have since moved but I still always carry my gear. I recommend it for the exposure if nothing else.

[JimRed]

So, they’re not the guard force Obama recruited to guard the FEMA camps he was readying for the resistance?

[flamberge]

I have taken the CERT training in my community.

Instructors included current and former EMT and Firefighters. Training sessions were conducted weekly at various city facilities over a period of several months. The sessions included first-aid, emergency patient movement, and CPR training. The training was at a basic level and we were cautioned to avoid going beyond our training in any real-world incidents. More advanced training and EMT certifications were (and are) available. We practiced searching fields or woodland areas for injured people or forensic evidence.

We also were shown how to do triage procedures for incidents with multiple injured patients. We had a couple of full-scale disaster simulations conducted in a nearby city with multiple agencies and a few hundred people participating. There was at least one “real-world” injury during each of the simulations.

I was astonished at some of the directions that I heard and saw during the sessions. In some respects, the Government officials who ran the training sessions sounded like "preppers" and "survivalists".

We were trained to put together "go-bags" for rapid evacuation in case of fire, flood or chemical spills. The suggestions for what should be in a “go-bag” or a portable emergency kit seemed to be well-considered for different circumstances. We were repeatedly told that we should expect to be the first-responders in an emergency and it could be a long time before Government people might get to us in an incident – if ever. We were encouraged to be self-reliant for extended periods during different kinds of emergencies. We were encouraged to stockpile various supplies.

We were encouraged to learn about CB and Ham radio communications.

There was a section on “dealing with terrorist incidents”. It could be summarized as “get out of the attack zone immediately” and “let the police and military handle the problem”. CERT volunteers are not supposed to carry weapons.

There was a section on the FEMA Incident Command System. We were trained to work a location in buddy-pairs or trios within a squad of 8-12 people. An experienced Firefighter was always the squad leader in the exercises. Tasking is supposed to originate from a central area command post. It was very clear during the simulations that communications from central will break down quickly and most of the activity depends on a squad leader that knows what he is doing.

Volunteers were mostly older people, many retired. It was clear that a real-world emergency would be very physically demanding and would require excellent conditioning, probably beyond what most of the volunteers have. It is a young man’s game to be the hero. The older folks (such as I am) can run supply convoys or communications.

I can get the coffee and donuts or run a dispatch desk while the professional squads are on site,

The CERT groups here have been called out a few times to help with parades and other events.

You hear a lot of good stories - and can be thankful that you were not in the middle of them.

[GizzyGirl]

Sadly I’ve been to two funerals this year for retired military and CERT from each town helped us park, ran shuttle buses, got us back safely. I had never heard of them before, very impressive for our needs those days! All were grateful for their service!

[taxcontrol]

Better to learn 4 skills:

Basic Paramedic
Basic Rifle marksmanship
HAM radio
Food prep skill (canning, drying, vacuum seal, etc)