In CERT training, you learn five basic skills to help you help your neighbor in the event of a disaster. None of the skills are technical or complex. Mostly they are common sense. Medical operations for example, isn't really about performing medical operations - like brain surgery - it's about how a first aid station works, how it operates.
 
Triage is one of the five CERT skills. The others are fire extinguishing, light search and rescue, medical, and disaster psychology. But triage stands out for two reasons: it's French for "to sort out" and it is probably the hardest skill to learn.
 
It should be French for "sort of" because actually most CERT students sort-of get it, but still have difficulty doing it.
 
The difficulty is a result of over-thinking the problem.
 
Triage is not a new skill. Triage is about sorting. Everyone knows how to sort. Just because it is called triage, doesn't mean you have to speak French to do it.
 
It comes naturally. If you've ever built a jigsaw puzzle, before you started putting the pieces together (operation), you sorted out all of the edge pieces (triage).
 
Even young children know how to do it. Remember your two-year-old hitting his head on the coffee table? There's that moment of silence as he evaluates his needs. If he decides he's hurt and wants attention, he starts to cry. If not, he goes on crawling across the carpet.
 

 CERT skills, like many types of training, will be forgotten over time if the skills are not periodically refreshed. That's why CANDO holds meetings and sends out e-letters throughout the school year, and , why we blog on the CAN website. It's also why we pass along to our CERT mailing list requests for CERT volunteers to help with the Prevention Convention, public agency trainings, the Eugene Celebration, and other events where we can practice leadership in a crowd situation.
 
Another good way to refresh your CERT training is to volunteer as a staff member for the CERT training class. I did this for the most recent CERT training, the one that's going on right now. Last night was Unit 3, Triage, and I not only refreshed my own knowledge of the subject, I learned a few new things as well.
 
The idea of triage, French for "to sort," is that you have many more victims than rescuers, so, to provide the greatest good for the greatest number, you have to sort through the victims looking for those who need the most immediate help (a life-threatening injury). While doing that, you identify the priority of the other victims' injuries as either delayed (injured but not life threatening), minor (hurt, maybe shaken up, but otherwise okay), and dead (not breathing, unable to get breathing, no sign of life).
 
Each victim should take no longer than 30 seconds to evaluate because you are only looking for three things in your evaluation: 1) Are they breathing? if not can you get them breathing with a head-tilt-chin-lift to clear their airway. 2) Are they bleeding? If so, slow the bleeding with pressure and elevation. 3) Are they in shock? If so, cover them with something and raise their feet above their hearts. Based on your evaluation, prioritize each victim for further medical attention and move on.
 

 A lesson learned is something to charish. In the case of disaster preparedness, it just may save your life or the lives of your loved ones or neighbors.
When a disaster strikes, public services that provide first-responder aid are quickly overwhelmed. This is simply a matter of fact. It's just what happens in an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, hurricane, or flood. That's CERT lesson #1 and what lead to the formation of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training back in the mid 80's.
CERT lesson #2 was that, for lack of professionally trained first responders, untrained and otherwise unskilled neighbors would spontaneously begin helping their neighbors. This is something of which, as jaded and cynical as the times may sometimes feel, we can be justly proud.
However, in the case of the Mexico City earthquake in 1985 to pick one well-documented example, this willingness to come to the aid of others lead to a terrible consequence: over 100 people who survived the earthquake, died trying to save their neighbors. They died entering unsafe buildings or doing other unsafe things that a small amount of training would have prevented. So lesson #3 was for public services to provide a minimal amount of training to citizens so that, in the event of a disaster, when public services are quickly overwhelmed, neighbors can help neighbors, and do so safely.

In the Churchill area, we have semi-annual access to CERT training and ongoing access to American Red Cross classes. This training helps prepare us for both small-scale emergencies like winter flooding or larger-scale disasters like forest fire or volcanic activity. The recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan, followed by the explosions and fire at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, however, are a poignant reminder that disasters can happen at any time and multiple simultaneous disasters are not out of the question.
 
Although Japan is almost 5,000 miles from our Churchill neighborhood, it's impossible to watch the horrific video footage of the tsunami, or read of the struggle to contain the nuclear reactor damage, and not be affected mentally and emotionally.
 

 Being prepared for disaster doesn't come naturally. It takes planning and periodic training. As spring rolls around, put one of these training opportunities on your calendar.
 
CERT Training Schedule
Date:      Time:         Topic:
18-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 1-Disaster Preparedness
20-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 2-Fire Safety
25-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 3-Disaster Medical Part 1
27-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 4-Disaster Medical Part 2
2-May     6-9pm        Unit 5-Light Search & Rescue
4-May     6-9pm        Unit 6 & 7- CERT/VIP Org & Terrorism
9-May     6-9pm        Unit 8 & 9-Disaster Psych & Ham Radio/911 Tour
11-May   6-9pm        Unit 10- Triage Medic Review
14-May   8-12pm      Mock Disaster
 
American Red Cross First Aid Training 
The file attachment is the latest Red Cross training schedule. Taking a Red Cross First Aid class or CPR class will improve your medical knowledge, skill level, and confidence. The Red classes focus on first aid to individual victims. While the medical skills are similar to those learned in CERT training, the point of view is different. Red Cross courses focus on the treatment of individual victims, CERT disaster medical skills focus on mass casualty treatment.
 
It's good to experience both types of training. Call the Eugene Chapter of the American Red Cross to register for their classes. Call Patence Winningham at the City of Eugene Emergency Planning Department (1-541-682-5665) to register for CERT training. 

 Being prepared for disaster doesn't come naturally. It takes planning and periodic training. As spring rolls around, put one of these training opportunities on your calendar.
CERT Training Schedule
Date:      Time:         Topic:
18-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 1-Disaster Preparedness
20-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 2-Fire Safety
25-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 3-Disaster Medical Part 1
27-Apr    6-9pm        Unit 4-Disaster Medical Part 2
2-May     6-9pm        Unit 5-Light Search & Rescue
4-May     6-9pm        Unit 6 & 7- CERT/VIP Org & Terrorism
9-May     6-9pm        Unit 8 & 9-Disaster Psych & Ham Radio/911 Tour
11-May   6-9pm        Unit 10- Triage Medic Review
14-May   8-12pm      Mock Disaster
 
The file attachment is the latest Red Cross training schedule. Taking a Red Cross First Aid class or CPR class will improve your medical knowledge, skill level, and confidence. The Red classes focus on first aid to individual victims. While the medical skills are similar to those learned in CERT training, the point of view is different. Red Cross courses focus on the treatment of individual victims, CERT disaster medical skills focus on mass casualty treatment.
 
It's good to experience both types of training. Call the Eugene Chapter of the American Red Cross to register for their classes. Call Patence Winningham at the City of Eugene Emergency Planning Department (1-541-682-5665) to register for CERT training. 

 This blog originally appeared as the November 2010 CANDO e-meeting newsletter. It was also posted to the KVAL-Churchill website to which the link below will take you.
 
churchill.kval.com/content/hooking-first-168
 
For further information about disaster preparedness and CERT training, please contact the City of Eugene, Department of Emergency Planning.

Please see the following link:
churchill.kval.com/category/story-categories/community-spirit 

Please use the following link to browse CERT Blog #33: Getting Smarter About Disasters:
churchill.kval.com/content/getting-smarter-about-disasters 

 In case you didn't notice, there was no earthquake in the Churchill area last week.
 
Last week, the 18th to be exact, marked the 30-year anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. Statistically, we have a major volcanic activity every 30 years somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Since we didn't have one on the 18th, we are now a datum point heading away from the norm.
 
Now, it's good that we didn't have a quake on the 18th, but, statistically speaking, it does cause a problem. Suppose the next earthquake in the Churchill area happens five years from now. That means that sometime after that, another earthquake will happen five years sooner to maintain the 30-year average. That's how averages work.
 
The food for thought is in questions like: Were you prepared for a quake on the 18th? Are you any better prepared a week later? What about in five years?
 
Fortunately, there are only a few steps you need to take to be prepared.
 
1) Know how and where to shut off your utilities. Keep the necessary tools at the site.
2) Strap long tall objects to the wall so they won't tip over when the shaking starts. This includes the bookcase as well as the water heater.
3) Put a personal kit together and keep it handy. The kit is different than the 72-hour food kit. This personal kit is just for you. It includes a hard hat, gloves, sturdy shoes, whistle, and working flashlight.
 
Taking these three steps now means that tomorrow, or in five years, or whenever the next quake happens in the Churchill area, you're house won't burn down when the leaking gas meet the sparking electrical wire, you'll be able to harvest the 40 or so gallons of water in your water heater for drinking, and you won't become a victim of infection because you haven't cut your head, your hands, or your feet as you pick your way through the rubble.

Knowing your neighbors is every bit as important to a CERT trying to practice disaster preparedness as knowing your neighborhood's resources. Your neighbors are some of those resources.
 
For instance, if tree limbs are obstructing passage along a main access route, you may not have a chain saw to remove the blockage, but one of your neighbor's might. Similarly, you might be a little shaky on triage and medical aid, but one of your neighbors might be a doctor, nurse, or EMT. If communication to the Incident Command Center is an issue, knowing which of your neighbors is a ham radio operator would be a good thing.
 
Now is the time, in unhurried, casual conversations over the summer to find out what resources your neighbors have available in the event of an emergency. Make known to them what resources and skills you possess that might be of help to them.
 
Remember, the C in CERT is for community; the T is for team. 
 

One of the primary tenants of CERT training is that, in the event of a disaster, public services will be quickly overwhelmed. And this is public services in the broadest sense: water-gas-electric utility service repair teams and road crews as well as fire, police, and emergency rescue operations.
 
This surprises many people, but just think of the last time the in-laws came to visit.
 
More mouthes to feed requires more food as well as more preparation and more cooking time. Thirsty people require more to drink. Bathroom times need to be coordinated. Hot water for showers and bathing needs to be managed. And when everyone gets tired, sleeping quarters need to be arranged. Clear heads must prevail or chaos will ensue.
 
In a non-disaster setting where the road to the grocery store is free of fallen trees and the plumbing and electricity still work, it's not such a big deal. But imagine if you had four adults and six kids to feed and no way to get to the store. If the water is off, how do you stay hydrated? Where do you go to the bathroom? If your house if off its foundation, where's a safe place for the ten of you to sleep? Or even to stand around out of the rain or sun?
 
A visit from the in-laws is a good way to practice your resource awareness and preparedness skills. Think back to the last visit. How did you do? When's the next visit? What would you change? Now you're thinking like a CERT.
 
 

 With the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and most recently Baja California, it's probably a good time to review earthquake preparedness.
 
If indoors when a quake hits, immediately seek shelter under sturdy furniture or along an inside wall. The idea is to avoid being injured by falling debris. Falling debris can mean anything from TVs falling off bookshelves to window glass breaking.
 
Since earthquakes don't give a lot of warning, it's best if you have a plan worked out in advance. For example, in my office, I'm going to crawl into the kennel with my dog. Seriously, the kennel is a sturdy metal thing on an inside wall and big enough for the both of us. In the living room, I'm looking at the couch as my safe spot. You need to take thirty seconds and plan a safe spot in each room of your house.
 
The preferred response, as it has been for years, is always to drop, cover, and hold. Drop to the ground where you have a lower center of gravity and more stability. Cover your head against falling objects while you seek cover for your body. And hold tight to something that can provide you protection against something heavy toppling over on you.
 
For each place you normally go, home, school, work, figure out an evacuation plan that will enable you to get out of the building when the shaking stops. Don't take the elevator. Most public buildings have evacuation plans available.
 
If outside, stay outside, somewhere away from falling trees and buildings.
 
Now, meaning before the earthquake hits, is also a good time to prepare your house. Bolt and brace your water heater and free-standing gas appliances to wall studs. Any tall furniture in a room like bookcases and grandfather clocks can be secured in position with small elbow braces.
 

There's an old saying about the devil being in the details. This is certainly true when it comes to disaster preparedness. In a disaster, the things we take for granted in life (the ready availability of food, water, clothing, and professional help) become unavailable for a time. It's the details of how well we're prepared for this sudden absence that determine our success or failure in the disaster.
 
One of these taken-for-granted details, sanitation or maintaining a high level of personal hygiene, can mean the difference between life and death even after surviving the initial disaster unscathed.
 
In all of the disasters that have hit North or South America recently, whether Katrina or Haiti or Chile, public sanitation and personal hygiene have become major impediments to the welfare of the survivors.
 
We in the Churchill area can learn several valuable lessons from this: first, have plenty of potable (drinkable) water available at all times. CERT training teaches us two gallons per person per day, minimum. Second, if the plumbing breaks during a disaster, establish a latrine area. You can still use your toilet, if you want. But if the water is off, put a garbage bag in the bowl to catch solid waste for easy and proper disposal elsewhere. Third, be mindful when preparing food to avoid contaminating it and making everyone sick. And fourth, hand sanitizer wipes, foams, and fluids are readily available in stores. Purchase one or more types and keep in in your 72-hour kit.
 
One last thing. When the disaster hits, just remember to clean your hands.

Although it still seems to be mid-winter on the east coast, it's spring here in the Churchill area. And with the change in season should come a few small changes to our plans for natural disaster.
 
Sure, you still have to know how to turn off the electricity, gas, and water. But in winter maintaining a supply of fresh water isn't that hard. Most days, it's falling from the sky. As summer approaches, however, fresh water gets progressively harder to come by and having a store of it in the basement or garage becomes a good idea.
 
The need for a readily available light source changes with the season as well. If the power goes out at midnight, it doesn't matter what the season is, you'll still need an LED or flashlight. But as summer approaches, the days get longer and the nights shorter, so you're dependance on artificial light decreases as summer approaches.
 
The food you store in your 72-hour kit could also vary by season. In the winter months with their cold temperatures, the ability to provide hot meals like soups becomes important. This not only affects your meal plan, but the requirements for cooking equipment. In warmer months, cold foods like sandwiches and finger foods might suffice.
 
Your plan for adequate clothing might also change with the season. Warmer clothing in winter is obvious. And while such clothing might not be needed during a summer day, as night approaches and the temperature drops, such clothing might mean the difference between a restless night and a good night's sleep. 
 
What doesn't change is your whistle. Summer or winter, rain or shine, you always need a whistle. Your need for a tarp, too, doesn't change. In winter it protects from the rain. In summer it protects from the sun.
Most importantly, regardless of the season or the weather, you always need a plan.