newsletter - cert newsletter january 2018.pdf · consider cert training welcome to the first...
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Consider CERT Training
Welcome to the first edition of quarterly CERT news. In Warren County, Ohio we are fortunate to have volunteers staff two CERT teams, one from the City of Mason and the other from Warren County. Members bring an enormous amount of expertise and professional experience to both teams. Backgrounds include firefighters/paramedics, police officers, FEMA employees, health care workers, nurses, amateur radio operators, IT professionals, public assistance professionals, authors and security specialist, along with a wide diversity from rural and metropolitan areas.
Curious about what to do in an emergency? Maybe CERT is for you. We frequently hear about being prepared but exactly what does that mean? Prepared for what? Numerous situations can rapidly develop into an emergency and suddenly you’re overwhelmed. Answers to what, when, where and why about preparedness are constantly refreshed during training.
CERT does not make you a professional responder but training will teach you a great deal about how to safety handle many emergencies prior to the arrival of professionally trained personnel.
Patrick Palmer, President
513-256-1501 C
Website
Mason C.E.R.T. Meetings
3rd Tuesday, 6:30 PM
Mason Municipal Center,
6000 Mason-Montgomery
Rd., Mason, Ohio 45040
Curtis Helton, President
(513) 465-7601 C
Website
WC CERT Meetings
4th Tuesday (unless other-
wise noted) 6:30 PM
520 Justice Drive, Lebanon
Ohio 45036 (Lower level)
-------------------------------------
Newsletter
Lee Hite
513-240-1129 C
Warren County Amateur
Radio Association
Warren County Mounted
Search Team
Warren County Emergency
Management Agency
Announcing CERT Basic Training
When: 3 Hours/Every Thursday
February 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2018, 6–9 PM
Saturday, Feb. 24, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Lunch provided and no cost for training
Where: Warren County Board of Elections Building
520 Justice Dr., Lebanon, Ohio 45036 (Lower level)
Register here: www.wcohcert.org
Professional responders may be delayed in times of a natural or man made emergency. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, you can help your family, your neighbors and your community when disaster strikes. CERT members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
MASON CERT
WC– CERT
PARTNERS
R E P O R T
A story, an event or your thoughts . . .
Say Something!
NEWSLETTER CERT in Warren County, Ohio
Community Emergency Response Teams
Vol. 1 Issue 1 January – 2018
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CERT in Warren County, Ohio
When To Deploy
Startled by the fire alarm on January 2, 2018 at the Mason Library, three CERT members were setting up emergency response displays announcing our February training classes. Clearly this alarm was a situation where we needed to quickly deploy our skills.
We learned the flow alarm for the stand pipe supplying the fire suppression system caused the alert. Huge amounts of water gushed from the ceiling caused by a frozen sprinkler head supply line. The prior evening temperatures reached –5°F.
Hundreds of books were already saturated. Pat Palmer, Curtis Helton and Lee Hite assisted in shutting off the stand pipe, disconnected electrical appliances from floor receptacles and immediately began pushing large amounts of water out the front door.
The Mason fire department arrived and began their evaluation and assistance.
Naturally the entrance to the library quickly became a skating rink when water flowed onto the cold concrete. We quickly salted the entrance and installed boundary caution tape borrowed from our display. One lady attempting to enter the front door had already fallen on the ice.
Fast response from the insurance adjustor allowed the recovery process to begin immediately. As we were finishing, the adjustor and library manager said to us, “Who are you folks again and how did you know to do what you did so quickly?” We said, “That’s what the display cases are all about!”
Thanks to past president, Tim Mullis, we were in the right place at the right time.
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From the City of Mason CERT President
Greetings from the desk of Mason CERT,
Tim Mullis (Past President) has passed the baton to me and I’m ready to
take off running. The team has a great track record of improvements
from each of the previous leaders and I hope to continue that trend.
Established in 2006, David Astles organized the grass roots
organization and created the glue that developed into an independent
organization. Training was a top priority and through David’s leadership
we developed team members who could teach Basic CERT to new
members.
Michael Kramer, stepped up next to lead the team and he took on the
role of developing and increasing our ability to communicate in the event
of a call-out. Under Michael’s drive we provided training for members of the team to obtain
their HAM radio license. This was a huge win as we became a much more valuable asset
to the community.
Tim Mullis was the next leader to further drive the education piece as well as further bolster
the team’s numbers. Through his guidance the team is developing their VRC skills to work
with the number of volunteers that will show up after a disaster.
These three leaders have over come numerous challenges to get the team to where it is
now and I hope I can achieve the same level of success they have accomplished.
My goals are to continue with the VRC training in addition to increasing community
awareness about the need to be prepared, as this has always shown to be a weakness
when it comes to emergency and disaster preparation. I will be meeting with the Mason FD
management in the upcoming weeks to discuss our path forward and gain their alignment
to our plan.
Patrick Palmer
President
City of Mason, Ohio CERT
CERT in Warren County, Ohio
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Warren County and Mason CERT Supporting Fire and Safety Days at Kings Island – 2017
Thank You to the Greater Cincinnati Automobile Dealers Association for donating Rescue Anne, a training manikin used for teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to both emergency workers and members of the general public.
Fire/EMS training academy at the Warren County Career Center – 2017
CERT in Warren County, Ohio
Gayle DeBord at Kings Island Fire and Safety Days
Casey Gilpin, Curtis Helton and Lee Hite, guest instructors
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From the Warren County CERT President
Greetings Everyone,
Welcome to the first quarterly edition of our newsletter covering the
City of Mason CERT and Warren County CERT. With focus on a
promising new year ahead, I've yet to forget the outstanding year
we had in 2017 and briefly wanted to share with you those
successes for Warren County.
• Warren County CERT membership numbers increased from 5
upwards to around 20 team members in 2017.
• During 2017 Warren County CERT contributed 1000 combined
hours of volunteer service.
Many of those volunteer hours were spent participating in training, exercises, and events
that directly benefit our team members, their families, and communities we serve.
We’re moving forward, there's no doubt about it. Without the gracious support of our CERT
members, sponsoring agencies, and the communities we serve our program’s success
wouldn't be possible and I can't thank you enough for all your efforts!
Last, but not least, if you haven't already done so, I highly encourage placing emergency
preparedness at the top of your list in 2018. One great way of achieving this goal is being
involved through your local CERT. For those interested we're always accepting new
members and will be offering a wide range of no cost training throughout the year providing
you with new skills or enhancing your knowledge involving CERT operations. If you have
any questions regarding our program or CERT in general please reach out at anytime.
Best wishes to you in 2018,
Curtis Helton
President
Warren County, Ohio CERT
CERT in Warren County, Ohio
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Practice Situational Awareness
Situational awareness refers to staying aware of your surroundings to avoid becoming a
victim of a “crime of opportunity.” Traveling on a subway, dropping a child off at school,
walking in a parking garage, or carrying purchases to your car can present an opportunity
for a mugging, robbery, assault, theft, or carjacking. Your intuition and senses are your
best tools for perceiving threats so you can act decisively should danger present itself.
Police officers are trained in situational awareness, and like them, you can participate in
exercises to increase your situational awareness skills.
Take a few moments each day to notice details relating to people and things in your
environment that typically escape your attention. Over time, this can improve your ability to
naturally be more observant, thereby reducing your risk of becoming a victim of a crime of
opportunity.
Break the ICE with your Children
We all watched several disastrous floods in 2017 including the Oroville Dam crisis in
February, Harvey’s rage on Texas in August, and Hurricane Irma’s damage across the
Caribbean and Florida Keys one month later in September.
We continued to watch one of California’s most devastating wildfires into December. Natural
hazards occur with little to no warning. The impacts can be great, but with any natural
disaster personal preparedness can make a huge difference.
A study was led by the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s
Earth Institute. The purpose of the study, conducted in December 2015, was to learn more
about people’s opinions and attitudes toward disaster preparedness with a focus on children
in disasters.
Key findings include: over one-third of American households with children (35%) are
not familiar with their child’s school evacuation and emergency plans, and even more
(41%) do not know to what location their children would be evacuated to during a
disaster. Children represent nearly one-quarter of the US population which will be
completely dependent on others for assistance.
You and your family should have a plan to reunite following a disaster if you are not
together without relying on emergency services as they will be taxed and trying to assist the
whole community. We must go beyond the paradigm of basic planning to incorporate a
holistic approach to preparing our children to face “the big one” when it happens.
Break the ICE: Talk to your children, schools, and caregivers regarding your family’s plan
for a disaster. Talk about why: Talk about the top disaster risks in your area (locally -wildfire,
flood, tornado and earthquake), and explain that it is important to have a plan to reunite
quickly during emergencies.
Reprinted from the City of Ashland CERT, January, 2018
CERT in Warren County, Ohio
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Stop The Bleed class sponsored by Warren County Mounted Search Team with instructors from
Delaware County, Ohio, Fire/EMS
Accepting a donation from the Scripps Howard
Foundation, President Curtis Helton expressed
his appreciation for supporting the important
mission of the CERT Team. Pictured left
is Patrick Palmer and far right is Lee Hite.
CERT in Warren County, Ohio
CERT assisting Urbancrest, Lebanon, Ohio
John Entwisle, Casey Gilpin, Curtis Helton, Lee Hite assisting Warren County EMA VRC exercise
City of Mason CERT training exercise
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CERT in Warren County, Ohio
Resources and Documents
2018 Training and Events
CERT Training Curriculum
Signup for CERT Training
Signup for Mason CERT membership
Map to Mason CERT meetings
Signup for Warren County CERT membership
Map to Warren County CERT meetings
Warren County CERT Twitter
Warren County CERT Facebook
FEMA Emergency Management Institute Training Independent Study Program
Communications Band Plan
Best Practices for Talking over Two-Way Radio
How to Program a Two-Way Radio Using a *.csv file with the CHIRP Program
Tri-State Disaster Volunteer Network
Donate Responsibility (How to help after a disaster)
Say Something! Everyone has a story somewhere, what's yours? Personal experiences using your CERT training are highly valued as a teaching example for others. Let us know how you use your knowledge at home, on vacation, at work or out shopping. We seldom deploy for large events because they are few and far between. However, your knowledge is used in some way everyday, tell us how you do that! Send to Lee Hite, [email protected], 513-240-1129 C
Warren County CERT Officers
President .......................................... Curtis Helton, [email protected], (513) 465-7601 C
Vice President .................................. Tom Schauf, KD8WXQ, [email protected]
Public Information Officer………….... Patrick Palmer, KM1WTF, 513-256-1501 C
Liaison .............................................. Dave Astles, 937-271-3227
Treasurer .......................................... Karl DeBord, KD8WXT, 513-379-3755 C
Safety Officer……………………..…. Tim Mullis, KD8USR, 513-222-4528
Logistics, Website and Technology.. Lee Hite, K8CLI, [email protected], 513-240-1129
City of Mason CERT Officers
President ………………… Patrick Palmer, KM1WTF, [email protected], 513-256-1501 C
Vice President…………… Lee Hite, K8CLI, [email protected], 513-240-1129
Past President ………….. Tim Mullis, KD8USR, 513-222-4528
Director of Finance……… Heidi Staub
Technology Director…….. Michael Kramer, KD8WFE