These are some notes I took from a CERT fireside that talked about preparation in case of emergency.

–        9/11 was the circumstance that notified the US government that they were not adequately prepared for communication between organizations.

–        After 9/11, efforts were made to help avoid duplication of organizations and help coordinate communication between organizations.

–        After 9/11 Thema was created.

–        Thema is designed to respond to an emergency, 4 to 5 days after the event for the following reasons:

• 1. It takes that many days to collect the resources to respond to catastrophe
• 2. Thema needs that amount of time to set up volunteers
• 3. Nice to determine what the safest places to set up operations
• 4. Need to determine the status of the power grid, passable roads
• 5. Thema will often do a flyover to determine the condition of the site.

–        Local emergency teams are structured to respond to situations that are not extreme, but for the day to day events.

–        Local emergency teams will quickly get overwhelmed from the excessive need of calls for help.

–        Local emergency teams need to respond to the needs of their own families. In addition to the people they serve.

–        The problem with Katrina was that though the federal government was ready to help local and state government are not ready and that influence the national response.

–        Individuals and families are responsible for their own preparation of emergency

–        72 hour emergency kit used to be sufficient. Now it’s recommended to 96 hours.

–        No one has ever says that they felt over prepared

–        Have an emergency kit in the trunk of your car.

–        Important items to have your emergency kit is medical information on your family members, as well as financial and insurance information in your emergency kit

–        Preparation includes alternative bathroom facilities

–        You need a means to purify water.

–        The pumping of water is made available to electricity. If you don’t have electricity, you’ll have no water.

–        There’s also the problem of water being in good condition. Your only access of water may be from what you get out the pipe or from other sources.

–        CERT training provides the following types of training

–        You learn some basic first aid skills

–        You know how to respond to various challenges.

–        CERT gives you the mindset to plan in advance for various circumstances

–        It gives you advanced training to respond to various circumstances

–        You learn communication skills

–        There are free online courses on Thema’s website of how to respond different challenges.

–        Grief and pain is palatable in an emergency

–        CERT training helps empower you to respond quickly to an emergency with his standing around dumbfounded.

–        Respond instantly to an evacuation order, this type of order is important to get the citizens out a way for authorities to respond to dangerous circumstances, such as gunshots at Fort Hood.

–        How well prepared, or you in case of a house fire? Do you have an escape plan for all members of the family?

–        A good recommendation is to have shoes, gloves and flashlights to help you get out of a darkened room in case of emergency and shattered glass, etc.

–        Trained people are safer emergencies

–        Trained people know the basics and leave the difficult tasks to the experts.

–        Usually government will respond to an area that has been searched. Trained 1 to 3 days sooner because the citizens have very separate base of operations, triage and have already determined the needs of the area.

–        This speaker’s first aid training enables her to save her son twice from choking.

If you have items you’d like to add to this list, please share them in the comment section of this blog.