The CERT session went very well -- a combination of review of existing processes and procedures as well as what new stuff is coming over the horizon. CERT was developed about 30 years ago and is continually evolving and improving. We are trying to organize a local CERT group out here and were expecting about 15-20 people but only six people showed up. A beginning anyway as everyone here was well motivated.
We are at the end of a very long and fragile supply chain and our county has a high level of dangers - Earthquake, Fire, Flood, an active Volcano, Landslides - quite the shopping list.
I love living out here but these dangers cannot be ignored...
One wonderful takeaway was becoming aware of the QuickSeries publishing company. Their pocketbooks have distilled Disaster Preparedness into a small, well produced booklet printed on very durable stock. Something that you can stuff into a pocket and take into the field. They also offer versions for download to your iOS or Android device.
I am getting these two to start: CERT Field Operations Guide and Incident Command System (ICS).
The role I envision for myself is Communications and Logistics so the ICS booklet will be a great place to start. Pricing is really reasonable too -- under $15 for each of them. Good stuff!