It was a lot of fun - our local CERT guy for Whatcom County asked one of the fire stations what CERT could do for them in event of an emergency. They responded and tonight's class was the result.
We (California, Oregon, Washington and some parts of British Columbia) are scheduled to do a big drill - Cascadia Rising - on June 7 through 10. Our County will only be active on the 7th and the 8th. The drill is to simulate a Mag 9 quake off the Oregon coastline.
After an emergency, the fire department needs to get a factual evaluation of where their resources are needed. The CERT teams will be deploying either in cars, on foot or on bicycles to scan a set of streets and report on emergencies using personal radios to a local Incident Commander who uses Ham Radio to report to one of the participating fire halls. This way, they get an assessment of the area within an hour or two - they could send one of their vehicles out but a shiny bright red fire truck will get mobbed by persons each with the utmost of emergencies. The CERT team will be identified by vest and hard hat but they have a lot lower profile.
If this operation works out well (it is being planned for four Bellingham neighborhoods), it will be fine-tuned and made a part of the national curriculum.
Very cool to have been a guinea pig for this great idea - our local CERT guy has some awesome ideas for expanding the scope of what CERT does.
Leave a comment