By Spence Sheets, Elk Ridge City Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management Director

This month, the primary focus is on Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training which will occur two consecutive weekends, September 19th and 26th. CERT is the primary method of caring for your family in the event of an emergency as well as the primary care-giving to those of your neighbors who may have suffered some injury and cannot care for themselves; it may be your responsibility, your opportunity, to render assistance to them if no other aid is available.

Since we live in the south end of the valley and the more populous cites are to the north, the larger cities will be serviced by the Red Cross and other emergency responders first; CERT may be the only aid available to the wounded.

This page has over the past several months been offering suggestions consistently on how to prepare your own home for disasters such as earthquakes, an EMP (ElecotroMagnetic Pulse) attack, pandemics, power outages, natural gas line breakages in your home, to name a few in hopes each member of this community will take to heart preparations for such events.

The CERT training is one more opportunity to prepare yourself to aid your family and your neighbors when the event occurs.

In addition to you being better prepared, the young men can earn credit toward merit badges for the training they receive, and the young women can obtain credit toward their personal progress award.

Sign up at the city offices for the classes. The class is $45 which pays for the equipment you will need to be involved in CERT. The instructor donates his time.

On October 24th, the city will have the fall drill exercise. During this period the Emergency Operation Center's (EOC) will prepare the team for the real emergency. CERT folks will have the opportunity to test their skills as well. We are in need of "victims" to help the CERT people practice their skills.

We have people who are skilled in the art of moulage; they will prepare the volunteers by making them look the part--as if they had serious head injuries, broken limbs, etc. If any are interested in being a victim, contact your neighborhood block captain if you desire to assist in this exercise. This is an excellent time to test your supplies.

Try going three or four days without visiting to the store, and living off what you have stored--I guarantee it will make you more aware of your preparedness status.

Gayle Weber has resigned as the CERT leader for the city; she has spent many years helping the city be more prepared for the coming events. It is reported Elk Ridge has more CERT trained people per capita than any city in the nation. Thanks Gayle for all you have done, we wish you well! Ed Whitlock has consented to replace Gayle, and Neil Dykstra has accepted the position as Logistics Manager; welcome to the team Ed and Neil.

Remember, IT ISN'T IF, IT'S WHEN!

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RENE DESCARTES:

Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. - Rene Descartes

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Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work. - Rita Mae Brown