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WHATCOM COUNTY CERT NEWS
WHATCOM COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE (WCSO)
SHERIFF BILL ELFO, DIRECTOR
Mailing Address
DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (DEM)
KENT CATLIN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Physical Location
311 GRAND AVENUE
Bellingham, WA 98225-4078
Whatcom Unified Emergency Coordination Center
3888 Sound Way, Bellingham, WA
October 2014
Volume 16, Issue 10
CERT 68
INSIDE
CLASSES
ACTIVITIES
INFORMATION
PREPAREDNESS
CERT is about readiness, people helping
people, rescuer safety, and doing the
greatest good for the greatest number.
WHAT IF TODAY IS THE
DAY?
ARE YOU READY?
\
We’re on the web!
www.whatcomcert.org
Triage Tarps!!!
Virginia Lester and Andrew
Breiteneder are overseeing about
10 CERT students up in Pt.
Roberts.
Schedule:
Sess 4 – SAR – 9/30
Sess 5 – Medic II – 10/14
Sess 6 – ICS/Dis. Psych – 10/21
Sess 7 – Table top – 10/28
Sess 8 – Final – 11/4
CERT 69
The scheduled fall CERT class at
Bellingham Tech will begin on
Tuesday, October 7, beginning at
630 PM. Contact BTC to register
for the class. Most classes will be
in the Haskell Building on the BTC
campus.
Tentative schedule
Sess 1 – Prep. – 10/7 (Rm 219)
Sess 2 – Fire – 10/14 (FD 8)
Sess 3 – Medic I – 10/21 (Rm 219)
Sess 4 – SAR – 10/28 (Rm 219)
Sess 5 – Medic II – 11/4 (Rm 219)
Sess 6 – ICS/Dis. Psych – 11/18
(Rm 219)
Sess 7 – Table top – 11/25
(Rm 219)
Sess 8 – Final – 12/2 (Bldg. J)
Any of you who have
sessions to make up, please
note the dates and times so
you can complete the CERT
program.
FERNDALE PREPAREDNESS
FAIR
On September 6, the LDS Church
sponsored a preparedness fair and
blood drive in Ferndale. Under the
organization of our Special
Projects team leader, Lacey
Shoemaker, CERT staffed an
information booth at this event.
Gayland Gump, Bill Aiken, and
Darrol Johnson were CERT
members who worked at the
booth. They were abetted by
Beverly Fitzgerald of the Whatcom
Emergency Communications
Group. Thank you all.
CERT TRAIN the TRAINER
AND CERT PROGRAM
MANAGER
Washington State CERT Program
Leader Paula Townes has
announced the fall lineup for CERT
classes.
CERT Train the Trainer (TtT)
Oct. 29-31, Camp Murray in
Tacoma
Dec 15-17, Everett Community
College
CERT Program Manager (PM)
Oct 23-24, Camp Murray in
Tacoma
For more information and to
register, contact Paula at
Email: paula.towne@ofm.wa.gov
Phone: 360-725-5290.
We need more instructors in
Whatcom County so if you are
interested and have teaching
ability, please consider taking one
of these classes.
AIRPORT EXERCISE
Saturday, September 20, was a
glorious day in Bellingham. At 7
AM, four moulagers and fifteen
volunteer victims took a WTA bus
from the Health Education Center
to the “crash” site. At 8 AM, forty
more volunteers followed in their
footsteps, while another five were
taken to the airport terminal. This
was the onset of AIREX14, the
triennial exercise testing the
capabilities of the staff and
responders at Bellingham
International Airport.
It was successful and fun. CERT
member Celt Schira actually got to
be stripped down to her swimsuit
as part of the decontamination
process at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
This exercise is extremely
important. The Federal Aviation
Administration requires this so
that our airport can remain
certified. And, there are minimum
requirements regarding the
number of victims handled by the
airport staff and responders.
PARTICIPATE IN THE GREAT
WASHINGTON SHAKEOUT
I trust CERT people who volunteer
to actually participate. We came
very close to not having enough
this time. So many people who
said they were coming did not do
so. I really appreciate the
flexibility of those who came to
the rescue so that we met the
minimums. THANK YOU ALL!
At 10:16 a.m. on October 16,
2014, many Washingtonians will
“Drop, Cover, and Hold On” in The
Great Washington ShakeOut, the
state’s largest earthquake drill
ever! Everyone is encouraged to
participate in the drill wherever
you are at 10:16 a.m. on 10/16!
JENNY QUESTIONS
Major earthquakes may happen
anywhere you live, work, or travel.
The ShakeOut is our chance to
practice how to protect ourselves,
and for everyone to become
prepared. The goal is to prevent a
major earthquake from becoming
a catastrophe for you, your
organization, and your
community.
1. The first “Killer” checked
for in triage is ______?
2. The second “Killer”
checked for in triage is __?
3. The third “Killer” checked
for in triage is ______?
4. List at least 3 ways you can
mark a victim being
triaged.
WORDS OF JOY
(from Joy Krumdiack)
ANNUAL REMINDER FOR
WELLNESS
We in CERT practice being
prepared for any disaster. We try
to be prepared for or prevent any
health problem. This is our annual
reminder that everyone ought to
get a “flu shot”. October is
probably the best time for getting
the shot as its effectiveness will
likely last through the six months
of the flu season. Make plans to
get your shot today!
Why is a “Drop, Cover, and Hold
On” drill important? To respond
quickly you must practice often.
You may only have seconds to
protect yourself in an earthquake
before strong shaking knocks you
down, or something falls on you.
Millions of people worldwide have
participated in Great ShakeOut
Earthquake Drills since 2008. The
Great Washington ShakeOut is
held on the third Thursday of
October each year.
Everyone can participate!
Individuals, families,
businesses, schools, colleges,
government agencies and
organizations are all invited to
register. DEM will be doing this.
Register today at
ShakeOut.org/Washington
FEMA INFORMATION
LOCATING LOVED ONES
Do you remember this from your
CERT class lesson 1?
Have you ever thought about how
you will communicate with and
locate your loved ones in the
event of a disaster? You never
know where you will be or with
whom you will be when a disaster
strikes. One focus for National
Preparedness Month is, “How to
Reconnect with Family After a
Disaster.” Use this time to review
your family communications plan.
Your priority will be to get to a
safe place, contact your loved
ones, and reunite with them as
soon as possible. The best course
of action is to have a plan for each
of the common locations where
you spend most of your time –
home, work, gym, or place of
worship.
Below are some tips on how to get
in contact with your loved ones in
an emergency.
Complete a contact card
for each member of your
family and have them placed
in purses, wallets and book
bags;
Have a contact that does
not live in your area that
each family member can
notify when they are safe if
unable to contact family in
the affected area. An out-ofarea contact may be in a
better position to
communicate among
separated family members;
Remember you can use
text messaging when calling
does not work because
phone lines commonly have
network disruptions after
disasters; and
In addition to text
messaging, use social media
outlets such as Facebook and
Twitter, to alert family
members that you are safe.
You can also use the
American Red Cross’s Safe
and Well program.
SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
In this day and age, technology is
rapidly changing and improving.
Every day we are finding new ways
to communicate and improve
communication response times –
especially during a disaster. The
most incredible part is that
everything we need fits right in
our hand.
You may be one of the many
people across the country that rely
more on a mobile phone than a
traditional house-hold land-line.
Therefore, in emergency
situations, it is vital to understand
how your mobile or smartphone
can get you critical information
instantly. The following are ways
to receive emergency information
on your mobile or smartphone:
The Integrated Public Alert
and Warning System (IPAWS)
is the nation’s alert and
warning system that saves
time when time matters
most. Check to see if your
city participates in IPAWS.
Use social media outlets
like Twitter for your
emergency alert needs!
@Citizen_Corps and
@PrepareAthon provide
valuable disaster
preparedness information on
a daily basis!
A number of mobile apps
are available for getting
prepared for, and keeping
track of, emergency events.
These apps include the FEMA
app and host of apps by the
American Red Cross.
One way to reduce the effects of
disasters in your community is to
invest in enhancing resilience
through mobile technology. Using
the above resources, we can start
preparing for disasters and learn
how to manage and mitigate
emergency situations now, so that
we don't wonder what to do later!
For more information regarding
mobile alerts and text messaging
visit http://www.ready.gov/gettech-ready.
SCHOOL PLANNING
It’s Autumn and that means
children across the country are
back in school! Do you know the
emergency plan at your child's
school? What about the steps the
school will take to share pertinent
information with you? As a
parent, it’s important to
understand what will happen after
a natural disaster or emergency at
your child’s school.
Here are the ABC’s of what you
should know about a school’s
Emergency Operations Plan (EOP):
A. Always ensure your school
has up-to-date evacuation plans,
emergency kits and contact
sheets. Ensure your school’s nurse
has your child’s medical
information and medications on
hand. Ask your child’s teacher to
walk you through their evacuation
plan and show you their
emergency kits.
B. Be Prepared. Provide your
school with your cell phone
number, work phone number, and
contact information for your
relatives. If your child is old
enough to carry a cell phone,
make sure they know how to text
you or a designated contact in
case of an emergency. Also, be
prepared to have a conversation
with your child about emergencies
and hazards.
C. Coordinate with your child’s
teachers and school officials to set
a plan in place if there is not one.
Guide them to Ready.gov for more
resources and encourage the
school to perform school wide
drills and exercises as part of
America’s PrepareAthon!
These ABCs, tools and resources
are just the tip of the iceberg
when it comes to your child’s atschool safety. For more
information on how to get started
visit
http://www.ready.gov/schoolemergency-plans.
PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS
You’ve finally achieved your
dream. Don’t lose it to a power
outage, hacker disruption, fire,
earthquake or other disaster. If
you’re not prepared, a disaster
could put you and your employees
at risk, possibly shutting down
your business forever. Today we
focus on businesses large and
small and the importance
of disaster planning, emergency
preparedness, or business
continuity — the goals are
ultimately the same: to get an
organization back up and running
in the event of an interruption.
Major disasters, such as
earthquakes and large-scale power
outages, are rare. Smaller
disasters, such as server failure,
burst pipes and fires, however,
happen every day. Companies
often prepare for the worst but
forget the everyday challenges
which can be just as crippling.
The resources found at the Private
Sector/Workplace Community of
Practice and the Small Business
Administration can help you
develop a plan to protect your
employees, lessen the financial
impact of disasters, and re-open
your business quickly to support
economic recovery in your
community.
LOCAL CERT ACTIVITIES
ACME AREA – Working with team
leader Stephanie Soicher, we have
set up a CERT refresher session to
be held on Tuesday evening
September 30. It will run from 7
to 9 PM at the River of Life Church
in Van Zandt. Please Come.
SUDDEN VALLEY - DEM is
participating in a preparedness
presentation in Sudden Valley. It
will be held on Saturday, October
11, from 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM at
the Dance Barn.
LUMMI ISLAND – On Tuesday,
October 7, DEM will have a
preparedness presentation for the
citizens of the Lummi Island. It will
be held at the Grange building
from 6:30 - 8:00 PM.
WASART
The Annual Washington State
Animal Response Team (WASART)
Exercise is a free, two-day fullscale animal shelter set up and
operation exercise with live
animals. It will be held this month
(Oct 18-19) from 8:30am – 5pm at
the Enumclaw Expo Center, 284th
Avenue Southeast, Enumclaw, WA.
The Annual Exercise is structured
with the intention of giving all
participants the benefit of
experiencing a dress rehearsal in
terms of sheltering response for a
major disaster. Given our
geographic circumstances, reality
must intrude to consider all
possibilities including seismic and
volcanic activity, landslide and
wildfire. WASART has a response
plan but we need as many
volunteers as possible to continue
to develop and troubleshoot that
plan into a realistic workable
strategy. If/when catastrophe
strikes and a large scale sheltering
response is necessary, WASART
will respond. This training will give
you the ability to make yourself
invaluable to our communities of
humans and animals.
To register and for general
information, go to
jobyemail@yahoo.com.
JENNY ANSWERS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Breathing
Bleeding
Shock
Many options
a. Colored tape
b. Write with Sharpie
c. Preformed tags
Mark Challender, webmaster.
Michael Steed, facebook
Greg Marshall, photographer.
Lacey Shoemaker, Projects
The CERT newsletter can be found
at
www.whatcomcert.org
being ready for disasters. In each
presentation, children receive:
A pillowcase;
A mini first aid-kit;
A glow stick;
All Health & Safety classes
(CPR/First Aid, etc.) can be found
by going to www.redcross.org and
clicking on ‘classes’. You then
enter your zip code, and all local
offerings will appear.
Did you know your pillowcase can
also be used to store your
preparedness supplies? The
American Red Cross created the
Pillowcase Project to help children
prepare for disasters. It is
designed to be a fun and an age
appropriate activity to educate
children about the importance of
www.whatcomvolunteer.org/
An activity book; and
Crayons to start their own
personalized disaster
preparedness plan!
Goals of the program include:
THE AMERICAN RED CROSS (ARC)
You can purchase emergency
supplies online at the Red Cross
Store http://www.redcrossstore.org/
WHATCOM VOLUNTEER CENTER
Helping children become
more familiar with their local
hazards; and
Informing children and
their families about being
prepared for disasters.
Contact the Mt. Baker Chapter for
more Information –
733-3290
CONTINUING EDUCATION – See
the latest CERT News for current
details.
CHANGES ARE CONSTANT –
CERT IS FLEXIBLE
Additional info:
Bob Jacobson
(phone 360-778-7163) or
bjacobso@co.whatcom.wa.us.
The Volunteer Center is at
301 W. Holly Street,
Suite M-06.
Call them at (360) 734-3055