Sonoma County CERT Challenge II June 21, 2008
The day began with the Welcome and orientation by IC Karen Sommer
and Sandy Covall-Alves, Emergency Services Coordinator for Sonoma County DES,
and Brandon Davidge, Challenge II's Safety Officer.
A group photo was taken, which was later printed out and given to the team members at the end of the day.
The day was also filmed by the Community Media Center to create Sonoma County CERT presentations.
Sim 1 was the Hazard House
where teams had to size up the outside of a building and inside a blacked-out room.
A few team members walked right by the gas meter. Oops! A few other people were 'killed' inside when, in their rush to get to a victim, they electrocuted themselves on a 'live' wire that lay in their path.
Learning the right--and wrong--way to crib concrete slabs.
Instructors filled out evaluations of each team.
Disaster Communications taught the basics of FRS radio protocols during emergencies.
Once the canopy was put up, it was also one of the two sims where teams could physically rest a bit while learning something new.
What would a CERT training event be without fire?
Uhm, hello! Fire!
A brief break for critical refueling...
and recharging energy stores...
Ruby (the dog) helped illustrate important points in dealing with kids and pets during a disaster response.
Rest - grab it when you can/
Given the heat and 'victim' discomfort, MCI (triage) ended up under a tree instead of in the 'wrecked' paratransit bus.
A quiet moment before it begins...
We had too few victims this time to really put the pressure on the CERT teams
With too few victims, triage morphed into first aid and victim support
(Got to love someone who can eat pizza at a bloody scene...)
Another view...
And another view. As the day wore on and her eye 'protected' by gauze pads...
...the moulage broke down a bit but not so the patient volunteer.
The day ended with a debriefing by the IC...
...and teams talking about their experience and giving feedback...
The Red Cross stayed to the end, helping to make sure everyone stayed hydrated and sunburn-free.
The CERT Challenge II Teams, Instructors, Staff and Volunteers. (Well, most of them...)
Do you think we need to develop a class on keeping the CERT trailer neat and well-organized?
