AgdaPkt 2008-01-07 - Laserfiche WebLink

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REPORT 78 Page 1 January 7, 2008 SUBJECT Community emergency preparedness training status update. RECOMMENDATION For information only, no action required. Staff will provide a brief presentation at the Council meeting. BACKGROUND This is a follow up report from the April 23, 2007, Disaster Preparedness report to Council. In November of 2006, the Fire Department reinstated the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. The CERT Program educates community members in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. Using their training, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event and take a more active role in preparing the community for a disaster. Additionally the CERT members have mentioned a newfound confidence in their ability and willingness to act when needed. The Fire Department has twenty personnel on duty each day for a service population of about 83,000. As a normal course of business, all emergencies are handled in a timely manner by these on-duty crews. In a natural or man-made disaster, these resources may be overwhelmed for a period of time. The need for trained and coordinated community members is important to ensure maximum preparedness for disasters. The Department has offered two CERT classes to the community each year since the first class in November of 2006. Captain Ernesto Gomez serves as the CERT program coordinator. To date, over 90 community members have been trained and are operating in their neighborhoods. In all, there are team members and leaders in ten neighborhood associations. Many community groups, including participants in the Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) program, have been CERT trained. The CERT program is still developing and requires a great deal of time from both the Fire Department coordinator and the team leaders themselves. In addition to the primary CERT training course, there have been ongoing training opportunities offered to program participants, such as CPR, First Aid, sand bag filling, and drill opportunities to help continually improve upon acquired skills. Current members also participate in the training of new members. As the program continues to grow, staff anticipates that each neighborhood will conduct small drills individually, and there will be at least one large- scale training event per year conducted by the Fire Department. As an introduction to the emergency preparedness program, staff has conducted five Are You Ready? classes in 2007. Since its inception, 166 community members have received this basic training. Costs associated with the Are You Ready? presentations are estimated to be $500 per session, comprised predominantly of staff time and some