Civilians can train to help

Staff

Published Friday, March 28, 2003

Suffolk News-Herald

In Suffolk, the Emergency Management Division of the Department of Fire and Rescue has identified a number of hazards, both man-made and natural, which could cause a major disaster. Emergency Management Coordinator Capt. Jim Judkins said these dangers include not only hurricanes and tornadoes but also flooding, snow storms, ice storms, major fires, and hazardous materials incidents.

It also must be considered that the nation is under an "Orange Alert" because of threats of terrorist activities, and they also fall under the Emergency Management Division's watchful eye.

"In a major incident, our professional emergency responders will be overwhelmed by the calls for assistance," said Judkins. "The 'minutes' we have grown accustomed to for emergency help to arrive can become hours or even days in a catastrophic event. Remember the incidents of 9-11 and you get a picture of what could happen and the rescue time involved."

This is where civilians trained to respond can become invaluable members of a disaster team.

"Trained CERT team members can provide lifesaving care prior to the arrival of fire and rescue teams," said Judkins. "The leadership of the City of Suffolk's Department of Fire and Rescue feels that our citizens can provide a valuable service to their neighbors, co-workers and the city if they are trained in basic initial response. It is a natural reaction that neighbors help their neighbors when a disaster strikes."

He added that the City of Suffolk Department of Fire and Rescue is committed to promoting, training and maintaining the CERT program within the city, and the Division of Emergency Management will administer the program. They will also maintain the database of all graduates, and develop the continued refresher/maintenance courses for all participants as necessary.

Donna Perry, a graduate of the Citizens Police Academy and president of the Citizen's Academy Alumni of Suffolk (CAAS), has participated in the CERT training. She said the training was invaluable, and she and 23 others learned to manage utilities, put out small fires and how to treat the three medical killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock.

"We also learned to provide basic medical aid, how to search for and rescue victims safely, and how to organize ourselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective," said Perry. "We learned how to collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts. This puts all the graduates of CERT in position to help at least their family and two additional people. Multiply that by the number of graduates!"

Perry also noted that CERT Teams are the result of an incident that took place September 1985.

"A Los Angeles City investigation team was sent to Mexico City following an earthquake there that registered a magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale, and killed more than 10,000 people and injured more than 30,000," said Perry. "Mexico City had no training program for citizens prior to the disaster. However, large groups of volunteers organized themselves and performed light search and rescue operations. Volunteers are credited with more than 800 successful rescues; unfortunately, more than 100 of these untrained volunteers died during the 15-day rescue operation."

The lessons learned in Mexico City strongly indicated that a plan to train volunteers to help themselves and others, and become an adjunct to government response, was needed as an essential part of overall preparedness, survival, and recovery.

The City of Los Angeles Fire Department developed a pilot program to train a group of leaders in a neighborhood watch organization. A concept developed involving multi-functional volunteer response teams with the ability to perform basic fire suppression, light search and rescue, and first aid. This first team of 30 people completed training in early 1986 and proved that the concept was viable through various drills, demonstrations, and exercises.

Following the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987, Los Angeles took an aggressive role in protecting the citizens of Los Angeles by creating the Disaster Preparedness Division (now the Disaster Preparedness Unit) within the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Their objectives included educating and training the public and government sectors in disaster preparedness, researching, evaluating, disseminating disaster information, and developing, training, and maintaining a CERT network.

In 1993 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) decided to make the concept and program available to communities nationwide. The Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards.

In January 2002, CERT became part of the Citizen Corps, a unifying structure to link a variety of related volunteer activities to expand a community's resources for crime prevention and emergency response.

As of February 2003, 41 states and six foreign countries are using the CERT training.

"I attended the very first CERT training class offered by Suffolk Fire Department, and I would like to thank Capt. Jimmy Judkins for his interest and concern for citizens of Suffolk," said Perry. "He spent many hours attending training and putting this class together and it was obvious during his instruction. He was not just "doing his job', he was going well above what was expected of him, and his heart was in it."

Perry said the toughest part of CERT training for her was "cribbing," a procedure to stabilize a heavy object using blocks, books or other materials so that a victim can be safely removed from beneath the object.

She found the bio-terrorism class not only informative, but also a little scary.

"We were taught what to do in case of a biological or chemical emergency," she said. "I am a graduate of the Citizens Police Academy, Citizens Fire Academy and CERT training, and I feel confident that if I encounter an emergency situation, I will be able to utilize the many things I was taught in these academies and make a positive difference in the community. We will also be offered additional training as it becomes available. I would like to encourage all residents to attend these academies if their schedule will permit it. There is absolutely no charge for any of this training.

In February, Perry was selected as the News-Herald's "Citizen of the Year," based upon her community spirit and involvement in civic duties.

For more information on CERT, contact Captain Jim Judkins, Emergency Management Coordinator at 923-2110 or jjudkins@city.suffolk.va.us

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