Community Emergency Response Team prepares residents for potential disasters

By DONNA BETH WEILENMAN
Martinez Tribune

MARTINEZ, Calif. – Disasters happen, Brian Lindstrom said. Martinez residents can let the next catastrophe turn them into victims. Or they can be ready to meet emergencies head-on and be of service to their families, neighbors and community, he said.

Plus, the training is free.

Lindstrom is the director of Martinez Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) that offers classes to residents who understand that first responders may be unable to reach them after a severe earthquake, major fire or some other emergency.

Those classes, which meet in spring and fall, conclude in an optional exercise involving not only Martinez CERT students but CERT agencies in neighboring cities.

The most recent exercise drew 70 students from Brentwood, Pittsburg and Concord as well as Martinez.

In that exercise, the students demonstrate what they have learned as they face an imaginary scenario that simulates an actual emergency. After they finished, they were sworn in as disaster service workers.

The impetus behind CERT came from such large-scale Bay Area disasters as the Oakland Hills fires and the Loma Prieta earthquake, events in which fire departments, police and medical responders were overwhelmed and unable to answer many calls from desperate residents.

In the 1990s, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), copying a model designed by the Los Angeles City Fire District, began urging residents to learn how to be more self-sufficient during catastrophes.

CERT also borrows some concepts from civil defense auxiliaries, although the emergency response program addresses non-military disasters.

The federal agency recognized that in such emergencies, residents may find themselves on their own, especially if professional helpers are unable to reach them. CERT-trained individuals and teams fill that gap to minimize loss of life through first aid and triage, and property damage, through shutting off gas and employing simpler firefighting techniques after a catastrophe.

Martinez started its own CERT training classes in 2006. Lindstrom said. Its founding predates his participation. “It was the realization by someone out there that people need training,” he said.

While some organizers start their CERT programs under the local fire departments, in Martinez, CERT classes are conducted in concert with Martinez Police Department, he said.

CERT classes teach participants some of the basics of emergency preparedness, from knowing how to turn off natural gas and water at a home to recognizing that a water heater is a good emergency water supply. They also get trained to operate a fire extinguisher.

Participants are taught such simple tactics as keeping a flashlight by their bed so they have light to see and shoes nearby so their feet don’t get cut by shattered glass.

They also are taught to make a multi-faceted plan – how to escape from the house, where family members should expect to meet if they have to evacuate, and what supplies should be packed into a kit that is ready to grab as the family exits.

Students become informed about smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and how to extinguish kitchen fires. Few forget a CERT video that shows the dramatic and unfortunate effect water has on a grease fire, Lindstrom said. Particularly in fall, participants are warned about hazardous habits that could lead to Christmas tree fires.

Lindstrom said families and individuals should review evacuation plans and should be ready to go five to seven days without assistance, and that means stocking supplies.

Each person needs a gallon of water each day for consumption, and another gallon a day for sanitation, he said. In addition, people need to plan to have food they can eat, especially the type that needs no preparation. Power outages also can limit a person’s ability to fuel a vehicle or access bank accounts.

Pets often can’t accompany their owners to shelters, and CERT doesn’t train pet owners about specific animal needs during disasters, Lindstrom said. However, Contra Costa County Animal Services has an educational program that lasts up to four days that helps pet owners prepare enough food, water, medicine and equipment for their animals. In addition, some owners of livestock are forming a similar program for those with cattle, horses, goats and other farm animals.

Through the years, the Martinez CERT has trained 500 people and in November added 27 new graduates to their ranks, Lindstrom said.

While most CERT organizations require participants to be at least 18, the Martinez program also welcomes Alhambra High School juniors and seniors to take classes, which can qualify them for their community service requirements, he said.

“Martinez is carved into 11 districts, with district coordinators,” Lindstrom said. Each district has assembly points, and divides disaster service workers into teams.

In an emergency, teams would make sure needs within their district are met first, then would offer to assist in other areas, he explained.

To give Martinez residents a greater chance of being survivors, Lindstrom said the local CERT has set a goal of training 10 percent of the population, or about 3,800 individuals. “We have a ways to go,” he said.

He said CERT will always have to recognize that some Martinez residents will be inclined to wait until a disaster has happened. “By then, it’s too late,” he said.

For the rest, he said, the organization has 10 qualified instructors who take annual classes themselves so they are up to date on information their students will need.

And CERT tries to slate their classes so students have convenient options.

When the next series is offered in March, residents will have a chance to attend either a smaller number of Saturdays or a longer series of Tuesdays for a total of 20 hours, not counting participation in the concluding scenario.

Having classes on two different days will give students a chance to make up any time they miss, Lindstrom said. That’s because to receive a certificate, a participant can’t miss any session.

Once the series has been completed, students get those certificates, usually at a Martinez City Council meeting at which they are introduced, Lindstrom said.

“We want to turn ordinary folks into survivors, not victims,” he said.