By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun

     DESCANSO — Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is now in progress at the Descanso Library, under the direction of Stacy Magoffin of the Mountain Empire CERT Teams.
     Last Friday night, about 20 people from all over the Back Country started their CERT training by learning first about what CERT was, who promoted it and how it came about.
     The Community Emergency Response Team was a concept that was developed and implemented by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department in 1985. They found that citizens who are trained properly can be of great service during a disaster situation. By training citizens with basic disaster and rescue skills, the citizens themselves are more likely to survive a disaster, and they will be able to assist professional disaster response teams where needed.

Above, participants learn how to splint a broken arm. Below, residents put on protective gear in preparation for a mock emergency.

     This training does not enable citizens to take on the duties of emergency services, such as the fire department or EMTs, but it does educate them in the proper responses in disaster situations. This idea has become so popular, that in 2003, President George W. Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country.
     With today’s threats, natural and manmade, the Citizen’s Corps have mobilized an effort to empower every American citizen through education, training and volunteer services to make our communities safer and stronger through the threat of any disaster situation such as terrorism, crime and public health issues.
     The training sessions, thus far, have proceeded through disaster preparedness, fire safety and Medical Operations part 1 and 2.
     Disaster Preparedness was the first class of this training session that started on March 16. Disaster Preparedness is a brief overview of recent disasters such as the Cedar Fire, as well as several other disasters that could occur such as earthquakes, flooding, and hurricanes. This class teaches you what these disasters are and what their impact on the community would be.
     Also discussed in this class is how to prepare for any disaster that could strike, by knowing what the hazard mitigations are, and what is needed homes and workplaces in cases of emergencies, such as an evacuation plan in our homes and workplaces. Have we assembled any kind of disaster supply kit? Do we have enough supplies to last at least 72 hours, and do we know how to purify water when the water supply is disabled?
     Along with these issues, the disaster preparedness class presented many other issues, as well as touching briefly on legal protection for disaster workers.
     Last Saturday, March 17, the CERT training went through Fire Safety at Fire Station #85 in Descanso. This class covered reducing fire hazards in the home and workplace. It explained the differences between natural gas hazards, electrical hazards, and flammable or combustible liquid hazards.
     This training covered fire safety and portable fire extinguishers and how to decide if you should try to extinguish a fire yourself. Also this class covered the importance of teamwork and how to identify hazardous materials that are being stored or transported.
     On Saturday afternoon, a Medical Operations 1 and 2 class was presented by Gene Harris and Clyde Larken, of the California Highway Patrol. These classes covered how to recognize life-threatening conditions such as airway obstruction, bleeding and shock and how to treat them. They covered triage conditions and how to conduct triage evaluations, how to maintain hygiene and sanitation and how to establish a medical treatment area.
     During this training, CERT trainees also learned basic treatments for burns, dressing and bandaging wounds, how to treat fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains. They learned how to apply splints to hands, arms and legs, how to treat hypothermia and how to control nasal bleeding.
     This training session will continue on Thursday, March 22, at the Descanso Library where the trainees will learn about CERT organization and disaster psychology. 

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