1st Quarter 2016

Western neW York

ELMA

MEETINGS - 7:00 PM2nd Wednesday of MonthTraining and meetings are at the Elma Senior Center unless noted.

Elma Senior Center 3007 Bowen RoadElma, NY 14059

Web: www.elmacert.org Facebook: Elma Community Emergency Response Team, Inc.

WEST SENEcA

John GulloEmergency Manager(716) 558-3238jgullo@twsny.org

MEETINGS - 7:00 PM3rd Monday of the monthTraining and meetings are at the West Seneca School’s Ebenezer BuildingW. S. School Ebenezer Bldg. 900 Mill RoadWest Seneca, NY 14224Watch website and Facebook for training and meeting locations.

Web: www.wscert.netFacebook: West Seneca Cert

SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 2006 1ST QUaRTER 2016

James ManleyThe winter season is upon us again and we rely on our fur-nace to keep us warm and cozy through these cold months. If you take care of your furnace, your furnace will take care of you.At the beginning of each heating season, vacuum dust from the warm air registers throughout your home and keep heat fur-nace registers free of obstruc-tions.Don’t store items nearby that might stop or restrict airflow.Many gas furnaces use air from the indoors to operate. Lint, dust and pet hair carried by air, or items stored in or around the furnace can block or restrict air-flow. In order to operate safely and efficiently, your gas furnace must be kept free of dust and lint build-up and other obstructions stored near the furnace. Never store or use flammable products, such as newspapers, flammable liquids or cleaning products near the furnace.Most forced-air furnaces have a filter that cleans the air be-fore heating and circulating it throughout the home. Inspect your filter monthly for lint build-up during periods of furnace use. Clean or replace the filter if nec-essary. Replacing filters often can improve appliance efficien-cy and reduce your energy con-sumption.

When installing a new or cleaned filter, be sure to re-in-stall the front panel door of the furnace properly so it fits snug-ly. Never operate the furnace without the front-panel door properly in place because doing so may create the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Most new forced-air furnaces have a safety (interlock) switch that prevents furnace operation when the filter compartment door/panel is not in place.Have your furnace tuned up ev-ery other year unless the man-ufacturer indicates otherwise. The contractor will test the ef-ficiency, adjust the air and fuel flow, inspect the fan, and clean the unit.Check the outside vent pipes on high efficiency gas furnaces for ice or snow build-up. Blocking or restricting the airflow will cause the furnace to shut down.Driving Safety Tips at Railroad Crossings

TIPS For oPErATING your FurNAcE SAFELy ANd EFFIcIENTLy

1ST QUaRTER 2016

Many drivers don’t think about rail crossings. It can be an everyday occurrence that you just drive over them but by becoming more aware it can save your life.trains do not run on set schedules. they can be on any track, at any time. Always yield the right of way to the train. the train cannot yield to you.When engineers see a vehicle or person on the tracks in the path of their train, they can only sound the warning horn and apply the emergen-cy brakes. A train in emergency braking will stop, but not in time to avoid this collision. The average freight train consisting of 100 cars and weighing anywhere from 12 million to 20 million pounds takes over a mile to stop in emergency braking. There are brakes on every wheel, but it takes that long for all of those brakes to overcome the momentum of the tremendous weight pushing the train.Crossing the tracks - Before starting across the tracks, be sure there’s room to get com-pletely across.Many crossings are on a surface higher than the roadway. If your vehicle is ever stalled or trapped on the tracks and a train is approaching, quickly get yourself and all other passengers out! Don’t try to take any other items with you. When the train strikes the vehicle it will send fl ying metal and glass ahead of and outward from the loco-motive. Many people have been seriously injured and even killed because they ran the wrong di-rection.When crossing has more than one track, don’t try to cross immediately after the end of the train

passes -- there may be another train approaching on the second track.never drive around lowered gates and never ignore active warnings at crossings.It’s illegal and deadly. If you suspect a signal is malfunctioning, call the 1-800 number posted on or near the crossing signal or your local law enforcement agency. More than half of all motor vehicle-train colli-sions occur at crossings equipped with the auto-matic signals. It’s because some drivers choose to drive around the gates or through the fl ashing red lights because they thought they could beat the train, assume a stopped train has activated the signals, or the signals are malfunctioning.the train you see is closer and faster-moving than you think.Locomotives are huge, and appear to be traveling much slower than we think when viewed from a slight angle at the crossing. The combination of the size and angle create this illusion. The parallel lines of the rails converging toward the horizon contribute to the illusion and fool our minds into thinking the train is farther away than it actually is. It is impossible to accurately judge the speed of a train when these combinations of illusions are present. Many drivers “overdrive their headlights.” This means driving too fast to be able to stop in the distance illuminated by your headlights. By the time you see the train at the crossing, it’s too late to avoid the crash. In other instances, there may be high levels of noise in the vehicle causing the driver to be inattentive and not noticing the train’s warning devices.

SAFETy TIPS AT rAILroAd croSSINGS

1ST QUaRTER 2016

stay off railroad property and stay safe.Some people believe railroad tracks are public property Railroad tracks, railroad service roads, and other railroad right of way are often used by joggers, hikers, people walking their pets, or as a pathway to ride motorcycles or other all-terrain vehicles plus a wide variety of other activities. The danger with these activities on or near railroad tracks is these people are concentrat-ing on their own activities not a train! Many joggers run with headphones and never hear the engineer’s warning. Motorized vehicle noise also drown out the locomotive horn. Many peo-ple who do not hear the warning fail to escape the danger. More importantly, railroad tracks, service roads, and right of way are private property and only persons authorized by the railroads can be on that property.Vehicle stalling on tracksIf your vehicle ever stalls on a track with a train coming, get out immediately and move quickly away from the tracks in the direction from which the train is coming. If you run in the same di-rection the train is traveling, when the train hits your car you could be injured by fl ying debris. Call your local law enforcement agency for as-sistance.Information from Indiana Department of Trans-portation and Operation Lifesaver. More tips can be found at http://oli.org

The Elma CERT participated in local events such as Elma’s Annual Pumpkin Fest located at Elma Town Park and Senior Center.

The Team also adopted a family for the Holiday season. At the December meeting members met and wrapped the gifts.

West Seneca Offi ce of Disaster Preparedness, The Fireman’s Memorial Exhibit Center and West Seneca CERT hosted well known Speaker Billy Goldfeder in September at West Seneca West High School. Billy spoke to a crowded auditorium of fi remen and fi rst responders.

1st Quarter 2016

uPcoMING TrAINING & EvENTS cALENdArJanuary13 Elma CERT meeting18 West Seneca CERT Drill

CERT ICS 100/Tabletop23 Grow your Own Garden

EMPact america of New York

February6 Pet First aid - EMPact america

of New York10 Elma CERT meeting15 West Seneca CERT Drill

Creekwatch

March9 Elma CERT meeting14 West Seneca CERT Drill

Shelter Drill

April2 Preparedness Classes & CERT

EMPact america of New York13 Elma CERT meeting18 West Seneca CERT Drill

Disaster Mental Health Re-sponse to Mass Disaster

Check websites for the teams news and events.

From ready.govCarbon monoxide, also known as CO, is called the “Invisible Killer” because it’s a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas. More than 150 people in the Unites States die every year from ac-cidental nonfire-related CO poisoning associated with con-sumer products, including gen-erators. Other products include faulty, improperly-used or in-correctly-vented fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, stoves, water heaters and fire-places. Know the symptoms of Co poisoningBecause CO is odorless, col-orless, and otherwise unde-tectable to the human senses, people may not know that they are being exposed. The initial symptoms of low to moderate CO poisoning are similar to the flu (but without the fever). They include:• Headache• Fatigue• Shortness of breath• Nausea• DizzinessHigh level CO poisoning re-sults in progressively more se-vere symptoms, including:• Mental confusion• Vomiting

• Loss of muscular coordi-nation

• Loss of consciousness• Ultimately death

WhAT IS cArboN MoNoxIdE?

West Seneca CERT Drill in November covered the topic of Di-saster Psychology. Bonnie Frazier from SMART was the speaker

Sign up for Code Red to be notified of emergency situ-ations or critical community alerts.

ELMA Sign up for Elma Code Red : www.elmanewyork.comWEST SENEcAwww.westseneca.net, wscert.net and facebook page

Bring pets/companion animals inside during winter weather. Move other animals or live-stock to sheltered areas with non-frozen drinking water.