Freq Of Nature

Striking Scotland Firemen Monitor 999 Calls With Scanner
[Source: Inside Scotland]

Strikers rush from picket line to rescue family in blaze after colleague gives illegal tip-off

Striking firefighters are risking prosecution by using a radio scanner to illegally monitor 999 calls so they can respond to blazes where lives are in danger.

Just hours before the end of their eight-day strike, mercy men at Paisley Fire Station left their picket line to come to rescue a family at a sheltered housing complex after the hi-tech scanner had been used to intercept details of a blaze.
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posted by Tracy Justus at 11/30/2002

Simi Valley CERT Awarded Certificates of Appreciation
[Source: Tracy Justus]

At Monday's City Council meeting the 2002 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) graduates were awarded certificates of appreciation from the Mayor, Bill Davis; Chief of Police, Randy Adams; and Fire Chief, Bob Roper. Randy Adams, Simi Valley Chief of Police, gave a brief explanation and history of the CERT program which now numbers "a small army of 430 volunteers". Randy Adams had a personal interest in this years graduating class as his wife was among those who went through the program this year. In addition to a certificate of appreciation she received a kiss of appreciation from the Chief of Police.

Simi Valley CERT, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved program, consists of 21 hours of instruction by trained fire fighter instructors and culminates in a day of putting their new skills to work at the Ventura County Fire Department training grounds in Camarillo where volunteer victims are strewn around a simulated disaster struck city.

The training includes:

Disaster Awareness and Preparedness
Response Team Management
Disaster Psychology
Fire Suppression and Utilities Control
Hazardous Materials Awareness
Disaster Medical Operations
Light Search and Rescue
Leadership Skills

The most recent addition to the official FEMA CERT curriculum includes instruction on how to deal with terrorism related events including Biological, Nuclear, Incendiary, Chemical, and Explosive (B-NICE).

The Community Emergency Response Team concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs. As a result, the LAFD created the Disaster Preparedness Division with the purpose of training citizens and private and government employees.

CERT members operate under the assumption that professional emergency responders (police, fire, paramedics) will be overtaxed and unable to respond during disasters such as earthquakes. CERT members self-activate following a disaster by first checking on their own families or coworkers and securing their homes or offices. They then check on their immediate neighbors and then respond to their CERT staging area to begin operating throughout their neighborhood or office. CERT teams communicate with the City Emergency Operation Center through amateur radio operators based at each of the City's fire stations.

Links of interest:
Simi Valley CERT
Simi Valley Police Department
Ventura County Fire Department
FEMA CERT
Photos of CERT disaster simulation
Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program
Centers for Disease Control

posted by Tracy Justus at 11/26/2002