December 2023

CERT Auxiliary of Santa Cruz Country

Here's to a Safe and Peaceful End to 2023

It's been quite a year! Beginning with the storms last winter to the gradual re-opening of the world as Covid became more manageable, to classes on a variety of topics, CERT has been busy.

We are expanding class locations for 2024 including a class in Santa Cruz for the first time in many years and a return to the Summit after our March 2020 class was interrupted by the Covid shut-down.

CERT assisted with the Resource Recovery Center in Felton and staffed an overnight emergency warming center in Santa Cruz last winter. We were once again able to support Law and Fire in their annual Active Shooter drill in the summer. CERT had several successful county-wide drills focused on communications and search and rescue. Many lessons were learned during these drills.

We would like to welcome several new team leaders. Dean Turkalj and Ann Scherer are working with Chief Leman to get the Loma Prieta team up and running after a Covid break. At the south end of the county, two new CERTS, Bryan Shields and Rocio Navarro will be working on establishing a Watsonville CERT team. Welcome and thanks for all your hard work already!

Next year's class schedule is packed already with classes for CERTs and non-CERTs alike. And finally, it is that time of year, where you might want to consider making a donation to the CERT Auxiliary to keep all the good work going. Thanks so much for your continuing support.

We will see you in 2024!

Joyce Smith, Editor

Congrats to Our Fall Graduates!

2023 Watsonville class

2023 Ben Lomond class

A HOLIDAY REMINDER

Thumbnail for video about the importance of watering your Christmas tree

Lyn Hood

Lyn Hood, an integral part of the County EOC and the founding of the Equine Evacuation Group, passed away in November.

We owe a debt of gratitude to her legacy and contributions.

To read her obituary, click here

We Have Radios!

Yes, the CERT Auxiliary once again has MURS radios available at a discount. These are the new, Version 2 edition of the radio and are programmed for use by CERTs.

This version includes a scanner and our local emergency broadcasts including NOAA weather radio, Fire Red, the Sheriff, CalFire and more. Thanks to Roberta Joiner for programming them.

These radios are available to CERTs at a nice price of $60 each. On Amazon they sell for $70 plus tax. A wonderful discount. Interested? Contact Mary Edmund or Joyce Smith.

Naxalone/Narcan

Due to the overdose epidemic in this country, the CERT Auxiliary has added a brief intro to Naxalone/Narcan to both our CERT Basic class and our Stop the Bleed classes. Need some more information? Want to be able to identify the signs of an overdose? Wonder where you can get free Narcan to have in case of emergency?

Click Here

The Communications Corner

Welcome Roberta Joiner!

Many of you may remember me from past CERT events that I have participated in. I look forward to meeting those of you I have not yet met! I have been active in CERT and ARES since 2019 and have participated in the Working Group meetings as I can. I have agreed to take on and develop the “Communications Support” position and I look forward to creating some fun MURS radio exercises that can be incorporated into your team meetings, if you wish, so that we all become more comfortable with the MURS radios.

It’s early days for me now, but feel free to make suggestions as to how we can develop this position so that it works for Team leaders and team personnel. We will continue the communications schedule on the 4^th Monday of the month, and after the initial Zoom in January, we will hopefully branch out to some in-person meetings both in the Valley and in Santa Cruz. If you want to chat, please send me an email. Stay tuned as we develop this new position!

CLASSES FOR CERTS AND NON-CERTS

CERT Basic Training - open to all

Great review for current CERTs as well

Cert Basic Training is free. The 21-hour course is conducted by FEMA-certified instructors, with classroom and hands-on training held weekday evenings and/or weekend days. Training covers:

Disaster Preparedness, Fire Suppression, Medical Aid, Search and Rescue, Disaster Psychology, & Terrorism Response, Team Organization, Disaster Simulation

Upcoming classes:

Market St Senior Center, Santa Cruz, 4 Tuesday evenings and one full Saturday. Class is filling quickly. Begins Tuesday, January 16th
NEW! Central Fire Admin Building, Live Oak. 4 Thursday evenings and one full Saturday. Begins Thursday, February 22nd
NEW! Loma Prieta Elementary, Loma Prieta. 4 Thursday evenings and one full Saturday. Begins Thursday, April 18th

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Be sure to sign up for the class you want using the class tab or drop-down tab, not the landing page.

Stop the Bleed

Open to CERTs and non-CERTs

Upcoming 2- hour classes

Where: Central Fire 1, Live Oak

When : 10 am - Noon, Saturday January 20th

In this STOP THE BLEED course, you’ll learn three quick techniques to help save a life before someone bleeds out:

(1) Direct pressure

(2) Packing a wound

(3) How to correctly apply a tourniquet.

These three techniques will empower you to assist in an emergency and potentially save a life. Class limited to 16 participants

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

CLASSES FOR ACTIVE CERTS

Incident Command System: IS-200

Struggling to complete the Santa Cruz County CERT required

FEMA IS-200 course?

We are trying a different way to complete this required course. The FEMA course slides will be projected on large screen and as a group we will complete the required course on our individual computers. This offers students a chance to ask questions and get additional information to have a clearer understanding of the Incident Command System (ICS).

January 20th, 1 PM, Live Oak

Instructor - Mary Edmund, CERT Auxiliary Director

Class limited to 6 students

CLICK HERE for more information, and to register

Utility Safety

Thursday, January 25, 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Presenter - T.J. Welch, Public Safety Specialist, Senior Wildfire Operations, PG&E

Do you know how to handle a downed power line or when to shut off the gas?
Learn / review vital information on electric and gas utilities and how to handle emergencies and stay safe.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

And, a Series of 4 Advanced Trainings

After taking the Basic Training course, what should a CERT member know before they are activated as a Disaster Service Worker (DSW)? The Basic Training course teaches us how to support ourselves, family and neighborhood in the event of a disaster but does not teach all the skills needed to operate with local government agencies or first responders. We have developed four modules to teach a DSW about the organization that they work under, personal safety, effective communications, and emergency medical skills.

Module 1: Understanding the CERT organizational structure and policies.
Module 2: Understanding your role as a DSW.
Module 3: Effective assessment and communications.
Module 4: Managing a Medical Emergency

All CERTs who complete the full series will be recognized for their advanced training.

Module 1 will be taught by John Collins, CERT Planning Chief, via Zoom on Wednesday, January 17 from 7 - 9 PM.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Module 2 will be taught by John Collins, CERT Planning Chief, in person on Wednesday, February 21 from 7 - 9 PM in Live Oak.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Module 3 will be taught by John Collins, CERT Planning Chief, in person on Wednesday, March 17 from 7 - 9 PM.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

Module 4 will be taught by RNs Mary Edmund and JoMarie Faulkerson, in person on Wednesday, April 17 from 7 - 9 PM in Live Oak.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER

The CERT Auxiliary of Santa Cruz County offers free CERT and Disaster Preparation classes. We are dependent on grants and donations to keep the program running. Please consider a gift to help us fund these classes. What a wonderful year-end gift that would be!