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June 2024
CERT Auxiliary of Santa Cruz Country
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Learning to use a fire extinguisher | |
Search and Rescue practice–They saved the twins! | |
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Shout Outs!
Kudos to all the folks who make our CERT classes possible.
This month, a giant thank you to Loma Prieta Schools for the use of their classroom and campus for a CERT Basic class. Kudos to Loma Prieta Volunteer Fire Department and Chief Leman for all their support. Finally, we would like to thank El Buen Taco for donating lunch to all the students, actors, and instructors on the final day. What a treat!
Kudos to Andrew Clark, EMT for the thoroughly informative and entertaining Advanced Splinting class. Did you know that yoga mats make great splints? Kudos to Roberta Roberts for all the time and effort she is putting into our CERT MURS radio community.
The CERT Auxiliary received a $34,579 Bay Area Urban Area Strategic Initiative (UASI) grant. The UASI mission is to improve regional capacity to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks and catastrophic disasters.
The funding will fund CERT Basic Instructor and Traffic Management courses in August. Additionally, this grant will provide equipment allowing live fire training in using a fire extinguisher and putting out a fire in CERT’s Basic Training classes.
Finally, a shout-out to all the members of the community who give up evenings and weekends to be trained in CERT Basic. Each one of you helps make our cities, towns, and neighborhoods safer when disaster strikes.
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Inaugural Santa Cruz County Wildfire Resilience Summit
Date: Thursday, June 6th, 2024
Time: 2:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building
The inaugural Santa Cruz County Wildfire Resilience Summit by the FireSafe Council of Santa Cruz County purpose is to inform and inspire the general public and other presenting organizations with presentations and panels on shovel-in-the-ground and shovel-ready wildfire resilience happening in Santa Cruz County.
Pre-registration is being asked for this free event at https://www.firesafesantacruz.org/wildfire-resilience-summit.
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CERT BASIC FOR CERTS AND NON-CERTS | |
CERT Basic Training - open to all
We have a few spaces left in the Weekend Warrior Class
Santa Cruz County’s Community Emergency Response Team Auxiliary seeks South County volunteers ready to assist the community during natural disasters and other significant events.
Enrollment is now open for volunteers willing and able to take team training on the first three Saturdays in June. Following training, volunteers may be deployed to help the community during disasters, supporting first responders and local emergency response in a low-risk, high-benefit environment to help assure community members are safe during local emergencies.
The first two days will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 1 and June 8 at Watsonville Fire Station No. 2, . The third training day will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 15 at the Central Fire District Administration Building, Live Oak.
All sessions are required to become a CERT volunteer. Spanish-language materials available. CERT Training is a no-cost, FEMA-certified course available to Santa Cruz County residents. CERTs are trained in responding to emergencies in their neighborhoods and develop life-saving skills with emphasis on decision-making ability, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. As of Monday, 5/27, we have 4 spaces left.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Instructors and Instructors-in-Training
SIGN UP TO TEACH HERE
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Upcoming CERT DSW Activation | |
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CERT DSW Volunteers Needed to Support Our First Responders
It is that time of year again when our first responders receive a refresher and updated information on response to an active shooter situation. The Active Shooter & Casualty Response Training event is a professionally conducted training for law enforcement, fire, and medical first responders who may be called upon to face an active shooter in a crowded environment. The training includes live scenarios with volunteer actors playing the roles of shooters, victims, and panicked bystanders. This training is an 8-hour course that repeats for six days in July (7/15 – 7/20) with new 30-50 attendees per day from the various agencies.
SO HOW DO WE HELP? CERT along with ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) are activated to support this effort by monitoring the location perimeter and parking areas of the access-controlled training site, redirecting unauthorized pedestrian and/or vehicle traffic that may inadvertently enter the area, and reporting/communicating potential suspicious activity or other issues. This allows more first responders to participate in the class.
There are 180 volunteer slots that need to be filled by a CERT or ARES volunteer with a current DSW ID. There are three shifts for each of the six days: 0745-1100, 1045-1400, and 1330-1800. The first shift primarily greets the participants and directs parking, the second shift greets the role-playing staff and the third shift is keeping the campus secure as the scenarios are played out.
One can volunteer for one or more shifts, including more than one shift per day. Get a bit of fresh air, watch the wildlife, practice using the radio (which button do I push to talk?), build a sense of camaraderie with other volunteers, laugh and have fun with this event.
Sign up TODAY to get your choice of slots. Location and other details are provided at the time of signing up. This event does count towards your 25-hours renewal requirement.
Have you checked your DSW expiration date recently? 21 CERTs have badges that expire in May or June of 2024. Need to renew your badge? Contact Mary Edmund (Aptos) or Joyce Smith (Santa Cruz).
Click Here for more details and to SIGN UP
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New Phone Applications for CERT
Wednesday, May 29, 7-8:30 via Zoom
Join Paul Garcia, County Geographic Information System (GIS), who designed the phone applications specifically for CERT use. This training over Zoom will provide you with access to the Santa Cruz County GIS Team’s mobile applications.
The scSURF app will be a new tool in CERT’s toolkit. CERTs may report damage assessments (aka Windshield assessments) in their neighborhoods to help provide information for the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during activations. Includes special protocol for 5.0 and above earthquakes.
The Knock & Talk app will be used to document public outreach as directed by the EOC with real-time reporting of area evaluations and contacts.
Note: This class will be repeated once per month for the upcoming months.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
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MURS Radio Skypark Exercise
WHAT: MURS Radio training and exercise
WHERE: Skypark Large Gazebo (reserved); 361 Kings Village Rd, Scotts Valley, CA 95066
WHEN: Sunday, June 30, 2–4 pm
This will be an in-person, hands on class, for those who may be new to CERT, unfamiliar with our MURS radio or uncertain about how to use it, or want a refresher. Those who have more experience using MURS radios are welcome to attend, refresh their skills and assist with those who are new.
We will start off with some basic review of the usage of the radio, and then spread out into teams for some field exercises. This is a “scalable” exercise, so it will work with 6 or 36 people. It is a repeat of the March exercise, with new and improved instructions. Loaner radios will be available. This class is almost full!
For details and to register, CLICK HERE
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CERT Train-the-Trainer
is Coming to Town!
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For CERTS, Firefighters, and Law Enforcement
This Train-the-Trainer course prepares participants to teach CERT Basic Training. Students will be able to convey the intent of the CERT Program (e.g. safety, teamwork, place in local emergency operations plan) and assure Basic Training students achieve the objectives of the CERT Basic Training curriculum.
Prerequisites:
All students (Santa Cruz County including Loma Prieta)
- Completion of CERT Basic Training within the past 5 years or current recertification.
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Special exceptions to the CERT Basic Course requirement may be made for individuals with extensive fire or police background. Contact Mary Edmund.
When: Friday, August 2 - Sunday, August 4, 2024, 08:30am - 5:30pm.
Where: Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA, Room 201
Space is limited.
For details and to register, CLICK HERE
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The CERT 2024 National Conference
When: July 23-26, 2024
Where: Washington, DC
Why: Only happens once a year, is informational, inspiring, and fun! CERTs, firefighters, instructors, FEMA leadership, and more from across the US and beyond
Registration Cost: $150 for CERT volunteers.
Click here for details and to register
Contact Mary Edmund for discount code
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Thinking of attending? Contact Doreen O'Donovan, Aptos/La Selva CERT Team Leader. She has attended three previous conferences. Perhaps you can all collaborate on hotel selection, share Ubers, and enjoy some fun trainings together.
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Be "Disaster Ready" California
Have you seen Cal OES's new website? Doing some small things today can help make sure you, your family, friends, neighbors and loved ones are safe and cared for when disaster strikes. Cal OES's new website for Californians has lots of excellent resources for all of us, CERTs and non-CERTs alike. CLICK HERE
Not sure how to sign up for emergency alerts? Have a relative in another county who needs to know how to sign up for alerts? Check out this page.
Take a look, stay safe, and have a great summer!
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Science explains the surprising benefits of gift giving
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