CERT Refresher 2006, Old Fire Station 88

by Cliff Cheng, Ph.D., KI6CM, CERT 2

Neighborhhod Preparedness Ambassdor

On October 22, 2006 the Los Angeles (City) Fire Department (LAFD) held a much waited Community Emergency Reponse Team (CERT) refresher training who allows CERT graduates to practice their disaster response skills.  Due to budget cuts, a drill was not held earlier in the year.  There are supposed to be two drills per year.  LAFD and Los Angeles County Fire Department will be cooperating and taking turns hosting CERT Refreshers every 6 months.    The County's drill usually take place in Lancaster. 

LAFD's drills usually are held, as this one was, at Old Fire Station 88 in Sherman Oaks.  This is a regional facility for LAFD.  It houses not only the local firehouse but the Valley headquarters for LAFD.  The Disaster Preparedness Unit, which includes CERT is stationed there.  The Urban Search and Rescue (USAR), and Swift Water Rescue as well as other units are there.   The facility is large enough to practice USAR excercises there.  The front of the facility faces Sepulveda Blvd.  The back of the facility abutts the speeding cars of the 405 northbound freeway just north of the Ventura Freeway. 

210 people attended the drill.  Four of them were from the class we sponsored last semester at Hancock Park Elementary School in Fairfax District.  Marielen Martin, a CERT 2 who retook that class as a refresher training, and I carpooled.   Ella Mae Lorak, Barbara Chatman, and Josephine Martinson, RN, from Sunset Square attended who also were in last semester's class at Hancock Park Elementary School in Fairfax District. 

Thalia Johnson, CERT 2, who was in our Summer class Pacifica Charter School attened.  Jose Gomez was there as an Assistant.  He as in Thalia's class.  He has since applied to be a firefighter with LAFD.  He also recently finished EMT training. 

I noticed that only about 1/3 of the people from our sponsored classes who said they were going to the drill actually showed up.  This included people from earlier this week who called me up begging I let them into our class at Cheviot Recreation Center, where we have limited seating, so they could do a make-up class and graduate in time to come to the Refresher.     

This Refresher was the first one for the CERT Unit's new Captain/Paramedic Stacy Gerlich who many of us remember as a CERT instructor. 

The picture on the right is of our team at the first station of the day, triage.  I worked with Thalia Johnson, CERT 2, and Valerie Fontaine, Esq.  Thalia took the CERT class we sponsored in June of this year at Pacifica Charter School in Palms.  A few days after graduating from CERT, Thalia, our my encouragement went on and took the three Red Cross classes to earned CERT 2. 

Valerie, who is my neighbor from several blocks away, and I have been on email with one another.  It is our first time meeting in-person.  Valerie is a named partner in Seltzer Fontaine Beckwith which is one of the largest legal headhunter firms in the country.  She arranges mergers between law firms.  Valerie, who has been in CERT longer than both Thalia and myself was our team leader.  Thalia was the scribe.  I was the team member. 

Our assignment was to search and triage victims.  We were in the training facility of LAFD's USAR team.  This is where the pros train.   

There were only a few live victims.  Our job was to find simulated victims, shoorting targets that have medical info, name, age, sex, weight, respiration profusion and conscious state.  Some of the "Vics" were trapped.  They need a piece of a debris lifted from them.  Obviously this would have been the job of a properly equipped team.  Our job was not to initiate rescue but to survey the scene and report back to the Incident Commander (IC).  The IC will in turn send help. 

We were part of the Yellow Group about 1/5 of the 210 participants.  Note the yellow tape on our wrists.  There were about 15-18 teams of 2-3 people per group.  This meant there were times we were waiting to get up to a victim and take their signs.  We worked rapidly once we had the information.  Most of the time was spent searching and walking in between debris fields.  No team found all 28 Vics.  The best found 26 Vics.  We found 18 but could not complete the course for at the end we were bunched up behind 2 other teams. 

At the debriefing, we learned of our 18 we correctly diagnosed 16 (89%).  A few teams got 100%.

There was a field problem that the instructors set-up  - an obvious hazard, (simulated) explosives, in the path of the searchers to see if they would notice and take appropriate action (see CERT Refresher Overview). 

Firefighter/Paramedic Mark Shapiro was in charge of this station.  He was assisted by CERT Instructors from Antelope Valley.  We were debriefed by Firefighter Jim Harkins. 

Our next station was Medical.  Firefighter Kevin Mason was in charge of this station.  From yellow group a treatment area supervisor was selected.   An additional person was assigned to our team.  After we treated the first person, our new member drifted off and joined another treatment team.  We treated 3 people. 

We were debriefed by Firefighter Aron Walker.    It was hard to do treatment when everyone was literally on top of one another and many were screaming in pain.  The victims were inches apart.  There was not enough room.   

Next, we went to the Victim station which was run by Firefighter Susan Peterson.  We switched roles.  I got to lay in the treament area under a canopy.  The canopy did not keep the hot Valley sun off of most of us. 

We were assigned an injury.  I was assigned a triage tage that said: "right arm pain, respiration > 30, Blanch <2 second, Follows commands."   The treatment group was being tested to see if they re-triaged.  Some people were put in who were incorrectly triaged.   I essentially had a broken arm.  For someone with a fracture they moved me a lot.  One team turned me over.  I was triaged by 3 teams before one stopped to splint me and put my arm in a sling.  

Yellow group was fortunate in that we got to do all medical operations in the morning without interuption of lunch or other stations.  I observed how much uncertainity most people seem to have. 

Lunch had started and people were eating when we were asked to eat with our Batallions.  Many people, even those who have been to several Refreshers were uncertain as to what Batallion they are in.  Some of the Battallions had no one in their area.  None had more than a handful of people.  It appears most of the 210 people were off elsewhere eating.  Some left and ate outside.   

I moved over to our Batallion.  Only one of the two Co-Coordinators showed up.  He was in conversation and did not acknowledge the people who joined the group.  He and the other Co-Coordinator belong to another, non-LAFD, rescue team and they were talking amongst their own members.  The other Co-Coordinator was at the Refresher for I saw him from afar.    Later I introduced myself to one of the Co-Coordinators who admited he had not returnred by calls, replied to my emails, sent people to table at a neighborhood council disaster preparedness fair.  He asked if he could come ot my class and recruit CERT members. 

At the end of lunch, the LAFD Valley Task Force demonstrated how they do auto extraction - using the "jaws of life" (see photos to the left).  They simulated a car accident between two small cars.   Within 11 minutes of arriving on scene, they extracted the victim by pulling the car apart.  They removed the doors, cutaway the roof, lifted the dash board, and slid a back board beneath the victim and slid the victim out from where the roof was.   

The spray painted letters are were the posts are.  These were marked for our benefit to teach us about the structure of the car.    

After lunch, Yellow Group was sent to the Photo Station.  This was administrative.  Those needing ID cards, either because they are new, they promoted to CERT 2 or 3, or had a worn out ID card took photos and were issued cards on the spot. 

I would have liked to seen this time better used for training.  Waiting in line was not productive.  Maybe next time we could be assigned a number and when called go to the station.  Otherwise we could do a some kind of training.   

The last station of the day was fire.  This station was run by Firefighter Mitch McKnight.  We learned how to hook up nozzles to firehose and how to use the 1 1/2 inch fire hose. 

The nozzle is capable of spraying water perpendicular to itself, of creating a wall of water to the sides of the nozzle.  The wall of water creates a cool shield.  The nozzle hose operator sprays the wall of water with the paramedics flanking the hose operator.  They hold back the heat and walk up and rescue the victim.   

Assistant Chief Tony Varela, who is in charge of the Special Operations Division of LAFD assisted Mitch.  I was impressed with how hands on he was.  He actually showed us how to screw and unscrew a nozzle, hold the nozzle, stand correctly...  Most of the time the executives show up at the beginning and say a few words and then leave.  Chief Varela was there the entire time.  It was motivating to see him there.