February 2024

CERT Auxiliary of Santa Cruz Country

Visit our Website

Congrats to Our February Graduates!

February 10 2024 CERT Basic grads

2024 Santa Cruz Class

Two-person Carry

Look what we found here!

From the Santa Cruz Office of Response, Recovery, and Resilience

Amanda Gullings

Emergency Services Analyst and CERT


CERT Auxiliary volunteers have been instrumental in helping Santa Cruz County and its residents prepare for severe weather and natural disasters. Not only do they help support public safety personnel and emergency operations, but during this winter they have been essential by providing our residents with the most critical tool of all – information. 

Not only did CERT volunteers help coastal residents mitigate the danger to themselves and their properties prior to a large surf event, but they helped alert people in other parts of the county to severe weather and possible flooding during later rounds of storms. Their work has been instrumental in helping all residents understand and prepare for to the risks we all face together due to Santa Cruz County’s severe storms and other significant events. 

"In the Know" with The Office of

Response, Recovery and Resilience

We have had a lot of storms already this season with more coming in the future. Last week OR3 (Office of Response, Recovery, and Resilience) shared this wonderful new tool they have put together. Dave Reid, Director, put together a video to introduce the community to their new S.A.F.E.R. (Situational Awareness for Emergency Response) app. Note - this video was recorded February 3rd, 2024.


"With our U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) Partners forecasting strong rain and wind, we want to share how you can track the storm as it comes into our area with a new tool."

Dave Reid is sharing information about the S.A.F.E.R. page

Click here to access the S.A.F.E.R. App

We Have Radios!


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

The Communications Corner


The storms this winter, and accompanying power outages, once again reminds us of the importance of other means of communication when phones and internet are not available.


Roberta Joiner, our CERT Communications Coordinator, offers several opportunities for CERTs to become more familiar and comfortable with team communication.


Monthly Communications meeting (on Zoom):

4th Monday of the month 7:00 - 8:00 pm

  • Monday Feb. 26th - Zoom (open to all)
  • Monday Mar. 25th - In Person at County EOC or Zoom TBD (will be announced ahead of time)
  • Monday April 22nd - location TBD


ZOOM MEETING LINK


CERT MURS Radio Learning Exchange


Sunday, March 3, 2024 1:30 pm to 3:00pm

at Skypark, 361 Kings Village Rd, Scotts Valley


This will be an in-person, hands on class, for those who may be new to CERT, unfamiliar with our MURS radio or uncertain about how to use it.  Those who have more experience using MURS radios are welcome to attend, refresh their skills and assist with those who are new.

For details, go to the Registration page linked below.


CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

CLASSES FOR CERTS AND NON-CERTS

CERT Basic Training - open to all


Great review for current CERTs as well


  • Loma Prieta Elementary, Loma Prieta. 4 Thursday evenings and one full Saturday. Begins Thursday, April 18



CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Stop the Bleed

Open to CERTs and non-CERTs. This is a training every community member should take.


Upcoming 2- hour classes

Where: Central Fire Community Room, Live Oak

When : 10 am - Noon, Saturday March 30th


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.


CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

CLASSES FOR CERTS

A series of four-modules

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. These classes do NOT have to be taken in order. Module 1 was taught in January. All 4 modules will be repeated in the fall.


All DSW CERTs who complete the full 4-module series will be recognized for their advanced training.


Module 2 will be taught by John Collins, CERT Planning Chief, in person on Wednesday, February 28 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 20 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

back_2_school.jpg

Incident Command System: IS 100


Saturday, March 30th 1-4 PM, Live Oak


Struggling to complete the Santa Cruz County CERT required FEMA IS-100 course (Introduction to the Incident Command System)?

Let's work together. The FEMA course slides will be projected on large screen and as a group we will complete the required course.

Students bring their personal computers and will then take the required test independently. Students will need to set up/retrieve a FEMA Student ID prior to attending.

For details and to register, CLICK HERE.

Do You Know When Your Badge Expires?


Have you taken a look at your DSW badge's expiration date? If it says 2024, then it is time to think about getting it renewed. What do you need to do before that?

1) Have 25 hours or more of participation in activations, meetings, trainings (including non-CERT trainings such as CPR or Red Cross classes)

2) FEMA's IS 100 and if re-certifying in 2025 or beyond IS 100 AND IS 200

3) Contact Mary Edmund (Aptos area), JoMarie Falkerson (SLV), or Joyce Smith (Santa Cruz area) to set up a time to share your log of participation, fill out new DSW paperwork, and get a new badge photo taken.

CERT Safety/COVID Policy Update


John M. Hanley, Pharm.D, RPh, CCA

CERT Auxiliary Safety Officer


In the CERT Auxiliary (CERT) program, our mission is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. To fulfill our mission and protect our community and our volunteers, CERT leadership aligns itself with the Santa Cruz County Department of Health and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) COVID-19 policies. To read the entire policy, Click Here

The CERT Auxiliary of Santa Cruz County offers free CERT and Disaster Preparation classes as well as assist when disaster strikes. We are dependent on grants and donations to keep the program running. Please consider a gift to help us fund these classes and our work in the community.