CERT Meeting - January 17, 2007
Notice and Agenda
Community Emergency Response Team
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
High Plains Community Center at 7 p.m.
525 Orange Center Road
Orange, CT
Agenda
Consideration of December 13, 2006 Meeting Minutes
CERT member informal discussion for ten/fifteen minutes.
Committee Reports:
Training Committee Report
National Incident Management System
IC-100, 200, and 700
Jan 9 and 10th success.
Schedule radio training and radio use.
Consider New Committee Assignments
Standard Operating Procedures
Consider draft from state CERT steering committee so as to point team in one direction, protocols, guidelines, and instructions. Ms. Pat Connelly - SOP discussion.
Equipment Committee – Rich Evanko
Communication Fundamentals
Telephone Tree Call Hierarchy
List of CERT members and contact telephone numbers
Who do you call?
New Business
Next Meeting Wednesday, February 21st
CERT Meeting - December 13, 2006
Members Present: Mark Barwise, Jim Brandt, Richard Cenami, Cheri Charney, MaryAnn Connolly, Pat Connolly, Anne Davis, Rich Evanko, Jeff Friedrichs, Linda Gagel, Vickie Gagel, Mike Galaty, Joseph Han, Don Jones, Kyle Jones, Lynn Knight, Allen Mushin, Lisa Sen, Tim Smith, Marie Soltysiak, Charles Waskiewicz, Kay Yanagisawa
Agenda:
Minutes of November Meeting; member introductions; reports; consideration of new committees; communications (phone tree, member/contact information list; CERT budget; supplies & equipment; new business.
Minutes of November 2006 meeting
Approval of meeting noted deferred until next meeting.
Note: meeting notes need to be submitted to Town/Orange and to State/CT
Introduction of Members. Welcome Fall 2006 graduates!
Open Forum
--Cookies baked by Anne. Thanks Anne.
--Orange CT map distribution, to add to backpack
--List passed around for corrections to name, address, email. Please let Rich Evanko
know of any changes in the future
--suggestion to utilize name placards at future meetings. Thank you Mike for the
suggestion
--reminder from Tim to bring 2 forms of id to all activations
Training Committee
Required training: National Incident Management --NIMS IS 700, IC 100, IC 200. To be held for Town employees on Tuesday/Wednesday, January 9-10, 2007. Location: HPCC cafeteria. Time: 8:30-4:30. To be taught by 2 instructors from the State. If attending, please let Anne Davis and Tim Smith know. Or, can take online.
Training ideas:
--traffic control
--radio usage
--bloodborne pathogens
--Red Cross drill
New Committees to Consider
Budget
Equipment
Development
Training
Equipment Committee
Formed at this meeting.
Members: Rich Evanko, Richard Cenami, Al Mushin
Current goal: to formulate list of items & costs (specific, number needed), come up with estimated budget for next year. Prioritize needs. Charles W. & Fred Palmer need to present to Finance Board/Town on Friday, December 15, 2006.
Catalogs brought in by Charles
Note: currently CERT has $1700
Some ideas: critical safety needs, better flashlights, personal protective gear, consider visibility, communications, winter gloves, raingear, stronger helmets, safely gloves, website costs, OSHA-mandated supplies, batteries
Note: also let Board know that these are not annually recurring costs
Member input was requested re: budget
SOP committee
Formed at this meeting.
Members: Pat Connolly, MaryAnn Connolly, Al Mushin, Kay Yanagisawa
Current goal is to formulate Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s); may use draft SOP from Statewide Steering Committee as starting point
Signage Proposal
From Jeff F,, for: [1] shelter; [2] traffic
Jeff F. to work on this.
Meeting Etiquette
Reminder to all to have only one speaker at a time during meetings.
Misc.
From Charles: www.dogpile.com is a search engine which collects information from other search engines and combines.
Remember to get flu shots!
A complete phone tree and modifications to previous tree will be sent to the group by Cheri.
One change mentioned at this meeting: Lisa Sen will call Marie Saltydisk
Next meeting: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 @7:00 pm
Motion made by Cheri to adjourn meeting. Motion seconded by Richard Cenami. Meeting adjourned.
CERT Meeting - November 15, 2006
Members Present: Cheri Charney, Mary Rose Duberek, Fred Palmer, Jeff Friedrichs, Jim Brandt, Tim Smith, Lynn Knight, Lisa Sen, Lori Swatt, Carol Nardini, Kay Yanagisawa, Rich Evanko, Anne Davis, Charles Waskiewicz, Debbie Lockwood, Lisa Kaplan
Agenda:
Minutes of October Meeting; lost resident drill--report: Training Committee Report (Required: National Incident Management System – IC-100, 200, 700; set target dates); guest speaker Mary Rose Duberek; Communication Fundamentals (Telephone Tree Call Hierarchy); Funding – Tim Smith; Mission statement Supplies & Equipment; Liability issues; “Approval of Activity of CERT”; CERT graduation 11/29/06
Minutes of 10/18/06 meeting
Motion to approve minutes; motion seconded. Approved.
Lost Resident Report
Comments: inadequate number of members for area to be covered; danger of walking on foot on busy roadways; need for identification; radio communication went well.
For training purposes, may be beneficial to reflect after training on “strengths” and “weaknesses”.
Lessons learned: Common terminology should be used (not codes- clear communication is vital); work in “teams”, and reference as such, not by names; easel would be helpful to have; size of drill was too large à scale down in future; may consider using training as opportunity to test reverse 911 system (for dispatcher, to stores, etc.)
Training Committee
Mandatory training: NIMS (National Incident Management System) courses ICS 100, ICS 200, NIMS IS 700. Can be completed online. Alternatively, can attend course for town of Orange employees and volunteers on January 9 and 10, 2007 (Tuesday-Wednesday), from 8:30-4:30 each day (location to be determined).
Guest Speaker: Mary Rose Duberek, Area 2 Coordinator, State of Connecticut Department of Emergency Management
Working on developing regional plan. Currently, 169 communities and 2 tribal nations = 169 + 2 individual plans.
State has roster of CERT members. Following training/activation, provide list of those who participated to Mary Rose.
It is required for CERT’s to submit paperwork for approval of activities (“Approval of Activity of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)” form—page one of three distributed today at meeting).
Try to submit application at least one week in advance. Can begin process by email; however, signed copy must be sumitted.
Idea: Training committee can submit calendar of events/exercises/training/meetings for pre-approval.
As this is a new concept and processes are being developed, better to submit all (everything), including reports/summaries after activities.
Also in process: “Evacuation and Shelter Plan” (regional), a document with information on all towns in region, including, for example, population, nursing homes, schools, travel routes, shelters, etc.
Beginning FY2007 (fiscal year 2007), funding will be regional.
Liability Issues
By Title 28 (workman’s compensation), CERT’s activations are covered
Note Need to develop scripted wording, for example: “Hi. This is ________. CERT has been activated. We have been activated at ______ for ________. Meet at Station 2.” Also, updated each person in tree as to whoever has NOT been reached yet on earlier branches of tree.
If answering machine picks up, leave message, with request for callback to Station 2 @891-1052.
Mission Statement.
Read aloud today.
Comments: may want to include wording to reflect regional participation.
Funding (Tim Smith)
Currently have $1700 from donations.
May possibly have $2500/year as part of town EM budget.
Equipment
Discuss next month.
Charles will bring catalogs.
Ideas discussed today and submitted previously: backup batteries, rain gear, better flashlights, first aid kits, cones, reflective tape for helmets, office supplies (pens/pencils, paper, clipboards), ice packs, business cards, letterhead.
Identification hang tags for automobiles—need to submit to Tim to submit for approval before proceeding.
Good news: Tim has procured a 12’ x 15’ locked room at Station 2 in which equipment can be stored!
Reminder: Keep a “kit” in your car:
Boots, jeans, jacket
Masters of Disaster
Lisa has a kit which has descriptions as well as scripted dialogue to use during emergencies, designed for pediatric population, but may be appropriate for adults during an emergency situation.
HOMEWORK!!!
SUBMIT LIST OF 10 ITEMS THAT CERT NEEDS.
AT NEXT MEETING, WILL SCORE TOP 5.
Important Date: CERT-2 Graduation
November 29, 2006 at 7:00 pm.
Be there or be square!
Next meeting: December 13, 2006 at 7:00 pm.
(NOTE CHANGE OF DATE! ONE WEEK EARLY!)
Motion made to adjourn meeting. Motion seconded. Meeting adjourned.
CERT Meeting - October 19, 2006
Members Present: Cheri Charney, Jeff Friedrichs, Jim Brandt, Lynn Knight, Lisa Sen, Kay Yanagisawa, Rich Evanko, Anne Davis, Victoria Gagel, Linda Gagel, Tim Smith, Charles Waskiewicz, Mark Barwise, Carol Nardini, Barbara Mollica, Debbie Lockwood, Lisa Kaplan
Agenda:
Minutes of September 20 Meeting; CERT community participation: Station 2 Open House; Boy Scout Training, etc.; Training Committee Report (Required: National Incident Management System – IC-100, 700; set target dates. Sheltering with Red Cross: Wednesday, October 25 at High Plains CC, 6:30 -9:30 p.m.); Lost Resident Drill – Mark Barwise Activation scheduled for Thursday evening, October 19. Communication Fundamentals Telephone Tree Call Hierarchy; List of CERT members and contact telephone numbers; Who do you call? Funding – Tim Smith; Supplies & Equipment - Charles R. Waskiewicz; Old Business; New Business
Report on Community Participation:
--Boy Scout Meeting
--Firehouse Open House
Training
NIMS courses (IS 700, IS 100, IS 200) are required for CERT members. Target date: 1/1/2007. The State offers a 2 day course, but it is 2 whole days. A two-day course will be required of Town employees; Tim will let us know when this is to take place. Otherwise, courses can be taken online.
October 25, 2006 @6:30 pm: American Red Cross Sheltering class to be held at High Plains Community Center, in the cafeteria. Woodbridge CERT, the new Orange CERT class members, and our class will be there, as well as (possibly) line officers.
Idea for future: Phone Tree Drill
Almost Activation- Tim
Orange CERT was almost activated last week, in an incident where an unknown white powder substance was found in a shipment of leather goods.
Note: OSHA regulations apply to some activations. Therefore, discretion is needed as to when to activate CERT.
Lost Resident Drill- Mark Barwise
Thursday, October 19, 2006, at Laurel Estates, 245 Indian River Road (intersection of Prindle Hill Road), at 6:00 pm. Meet inside of front door.
Mark Barwise will be the “lost” resident.
Wear helmets and vests, bring two CERT id’s, park on the side of the building.
May take pictures and provide to media
Mark educated the class regarding typical protocol at Laurel Estates when a resident is lost:
--check buildings, check grounds
--check with staff: When was the resident last seen, and where? What was the resident
wearing? Where does the resident live? Where do the resident’s children live?
--mobility issues: is the resident in a wheelchair? Walking?
--check with “buddy”—oftentimes, there is a buddy system in place.
Tip from Tim: do not duplicate efforts
Communication Fundamentals
During an actual activation, each member should be responsible for calling 2-3 people.
A new phone tree list will be made.
Charles has a previous list.
Charles: can you email a copy to all of us?
Rich: can you email all most recent chart of members, contact info?
Fundraising – Tim Smith
Tim has already submitted applications for grant funding.
Additionally, solicitations to businesses are also being investigated. (checks should be made out to “Town of Orange CERT”).
Discussion ensued regarding the importance of presenting a united front, that each member work as part of the team. Discussion of forming a Fundraising/Development Committee took place. Each member should consider if s/he would like to be on this committee. Please let Charles/Jim/Tim know. Donations are not tax deductible.
Pumpkin Palooza, Saturday, October 21, 2006- Lisa Kaplan
Volunteers needed to help with parking. Meet at High Plains Community Center;
3:30-8:00 pm.
Opportunity for CERT to make a couple hundred dollars.
Sign-up sheet passed around – 7 volunteers
Orange CERT
Focus: Shelter management and possibly animal management/shelter. This itself is a big job—multi-faceted (equipment, supplies, procedures, etc….)
Staging area: Firehouse 2.
Remember, take care of self, family, neighbors, then others.
Do not self-activate
Re: equipment
--have 6 radios and 2 high band radios
--Tim: looking at purchase through emergency mgt. funds: barricades, cones, signs à
for use by police, fire, CERT
--?? Consider Equipment Subcommittee – discuss next time
--?? Sign-out equipment from “closet” and sign-in when returned (e.g. ponchos etc.).
Will then not need to purchase everything for every CERT member
CERT Conference: October 30, 2006 @ Mohegan Sun
State allocated $16k for this
Email Tim if interested in attending
State Steering Committee meeting later this month: ?? October 26th . Tim will let us know
CERT Meeting - September 2006
Notes
CERT Meeting - August 16, 2006
Members Present: Jim Brandt, Anne Davis, Rich Evanko, Kay Yanagisawa, Lisa Sen, Rich Rogers, Linda Gagel, Victoria Gagel, Lynn Knight, Carol Nardini, Mark Barwise, Jeffrey Friedrichs, Cheri Charney, Christy Moran, Laurie Swatt, Debbie Lockwood, Charles Waskiewicz
Agenda: Guest speaker, Discussion of Activation
Jim Brandt—opened meeting, introduction of guest speaker
Guest Speaker: PJ Norwood, Regional CERT coordinator
2 handouts: letter from Richard Blumenthal addressing the question of liability for CERT members; map of Connecticut’s 5 CERT areas/regions
Current/planned CERT—1250 indiv’s
· Shelton/Derby/Ansonia/Seymour—thru Naugatuck Valley Health Dept.
(recruiting)
· Milford (planned)
· Orange
· West Haven (recruiting)
· New Haven (starting with administrative team, then expanding)
· East Haven
· Essex/Old Saybrook, etc.
· Branford/North Branford/Guilford, Madison – thru East Shore Health Dept.
· Durham
· Meriden/Wallingford/Cheshire
· Hamden (3 CERT’s, 1 is a Quinnipiac student team)
· Bethany (soon)
· Woodbridge (in training)
Focus: Shelter management and possibly animal management/shelter
Regional Training Day for our region (region 2)—upcoming possibility
Liability: many grey areas at this time (re: definitions, e.g. “civil preparedness”)
(Town of Orange liability? e.g. Orange Country Fair)
Re: funding. Currently, no mechanism for funding assistance
Need to determine whether CERT activation is going to be proactive or reactive
Homeland funds may be available to stock shelter
East Haven uses ham radio operators for communication (mobile radio
communication vehicle with ham radios inside)
(Tim has 2 mile radius FRS radios for us, currently has 6)
Need ideas-- assignment for next meeting: bring list of needs to Tim – submit next time. (e.g. PPE (personal protective equipment), easel board with markers, better flashlights, traffic triangles/strobe lights, light sticks, cones, 2x4’s, incident rehab, portable tents, food, rain gear, cold weather gear, water)
Discussion of Orange CERT’s initial activation:
Note: CERT is new. There will be “growing pains”. We will learn from each activation.
--activation can be by 1st selectman, EM director, fire chief, fire marshal, police dept.
--in this case, it was by the police dept. à “who do I call?” à Annie’s husband
overheard à Annie à Charles à called CERT members
Day 1: traffic control
Day 2: shelter for citizens
Issues which arose:
1. accountability of personnel resources (list walked away on day 1)
Learning experience—need base of operations with IC to remain in place and a means to communicate with the IC. In this case, cell phones were used, but IC was not aware of his personnel resources at all times.
Discussion of ICS—everything must go through the IC. In this case, some
communication took place otherwise.
2. dress code
Comments were made about clothing worn by CERT members.
Discussion of dress code: no open-toed shoes (for safety reasons), wear helmets (for safety), pants, boots
Suggestion: Keep a “ready kit” in your car, to include: jeans, socks, boots
3. need to develop a way to reach all CERT members (not all were called in this case)
For example, Orange CERT activation plan was for Jim and Charles each to call half of CERT members. Jim was not available so Charles had 18 people to call himself.
Need a system which will work, even is someone is not available (for example, if someone not available, next person on list calls everyone who that person would have called)
Those on traffic control duty (day 1) commented on how helpful Orange town citizens were (re: rehab). Commentary also made on how citizens looked to some CERT members for guidance/questions.
For Sheltering Operations and for Traffic Control, CERT needs training. We cannot provide these functions without proper training and equipment first.
We need to have a sheltering plan. Currently, don’t have.
Note: if <20 people, town runs; if >20 people, Red Cross runs
Best wishes to Lisa Kaplan, who could not be at this meeting due to a medical procedure. Cheri brought a card for all to sign. Hope you are doing well Lisa!
Two final notes: sign up for class teaching for next CERT class and for CERT regional weekend!
CERT Meeting - July 19, 2006
Members Present: Linda Gagel, Victoria Gagel, Lynn Knight, Rich Rogers, Kathy Rogers, Anne Davis, Debbie Lockwood, Cheri Charney, Jim Brandt, Kay Yanagisawa, Rich Evanko, Don Jones, Kyle Jones
Guests: Rich and Kathy Rogers
Agenda: Guest speaker, CERT forms
Jim Brandt—opened meeting, introduction of guest speaker
Guest Speaker: Chief Charles Sherwood, Orange Volunteer Fire Dept.
Technical info—learned
Management—on-site
ICS (Incident Command System) is used for managing incidents
ICS is a management system with 4 parts:
1. Objectives—evaluate on-scene; IC makes assessment of objectives
e.g. rescue, evacuate, control/mitigate incident
e.g. fire-fighting: Rescue, Exposure, Containment, Extinguish, Overhaul
2. Strategies—actions to take to achieve objectives
3. Organization/structure (ICS structure -> seen organizational chart)
4. Evaluation of problem (ongoing)
e.g. incident may change; may have made mis-steps along the way
Also to consider: influencing behavioral aspects such as communications,
motivation of those involved, leadership, understanding
Unified Command—a number of different agencies may have jurisdiction over at least a piece of incident. Must work together. Excellent communication needed (minimally 1-2 times/day) between agencies.
PIO – In OVFD:
Liason to media (print/electronic). IC instructs PIO & PIO delivers message. Function is to give/share info.
Admin. Assistant to IC. For example, takes worksheet for organizational charts, takes notes about what is done & when (especially important for larger incidents & those where many people may be involved, for documentation later)
Safety Officer—Full personal safety & scene safety officers. In close communications with IC.
Liason Officer—helps coordinate other agencies who are coming in
At command post, representative from each agency will facilitate communication
Operations—“doers”
Logistics—support/resources (including rehab for those working @ incident)
Planning—identification of best way to address incident (monitor/devise strategies for appropriate outcomes)
Finance
Examples discussed: (1) Truck rollover on Rt. 34; (2) Avalon Bay
(1) Truck rollover
1st officer on scene declares position of IC and declares location of IC post, assesses situation, assigns officers (operations, logistics, planning, PIO), set up communications method. For this incident, new position was declared: Spread officer (to monitor spread of oil spill). Agencies involved: DEP, Inland Wetlands Commission, EPA, Derby FD, OVFD.
(2) Avalon Bay
Fire alarm from sprinkler system malfunction.
Building evacuated, many people milling about.
Issues discussed, including language barrier, handling people, building layout, access to building info, amount of water from sprinkler system, water damage.
CERT forms reviewed, with application for 2 scenarios: Fireworks and Truck Rollover
Anne—report on CERT at the 4th of July fireworks
Don—website up and running, can access by cert-orange.com or orangecert.org
Rich R.—2 websites to look at: www.72hours.org; ready.gov
Cheri—raised question of participation in Orange Night Out (takes place 8/1 from 5-8 pm)
Ø Fall CERT Weekend, September 9-10, 2006. Sign up online. Tim emailed info.
Ø Sheltering operations class to be held October 25, 2006 from 6:30-9:30 pm at the High Plains Community Center. This will be for both CERT classes (our class as well as the fall ’06 class).
Next Meeting: Guest speaker P.J. Norwood
CERT Meeting - June 21, 2006
Members present: Tim Smith, Linda Gagel, Cheri Charney, Lisa Kaplan, Charles Waskiewicz, Jim Brandt, Anne Davis, Lynn Knight, Lisa Sen, Debbie Lockwood, Laurie Swatt, Victoria Gagel, Kay Yanagisawa, Rich Evanko, Rich Rogers, Jeff Friedrichs, Barbara Mollica, Mark Barwise
Guest: Rich Rogers
Ø Welcome to Rich Rogers, visiting here from Kansas CERT. Discussion.
Ø Report of recent events: Jim reported the Memorial Day Parade to be a success;
Charles reported the Orange Business Expo to be a success.
Ø New statewide program: supply deployment during emergencies. Supplies flown to
To Westover Airport in Chicopee, Massachusetts & distributed to localities by truck.
Logistics are yet to be determined. ? possible CERT involvement?
Ø Training for future meetings (committee Anne, Laurie, Debbie):
§ CPR and AED
§ August meeting: PJ Norwood (regional CERT coordinator)
§ NIMS training/ICS 100 to be scheduled. This is a 6 hr. training. Possible
day & evening session. Also can do at fema.gov. Please email Anne,
Laurie, or Debbie if you do independently through fema.gov
§ Ideas raised for future training: bloodborne pathogen training, sexual harassment training
(? Complete in March, in conjunction with Orange FD doing their mandatories)
Ø Reverse 911 target date for implementation: Fall 2006
Ø Communications ideas: satellite phones, mobile phones, talkabout radios
Ø Newsletter status: in committee
Ø Jim/Tim: Title 28. Discussion of liability issues. Though not clearly defined we do,
as members, have coverage.
Ø Open forum:
§ Laurie: 1. We should get to know each other better; 2. Forms: we should start to
use them in meetings, for familiarization (ICS familiarization)
§ Charles: scenarios for training
§ Rich: add photos to spreadsheet (member info). Will email form to all to complete
§ Jim: add “special skills” to spreadsheet
§ Tim: sheltering operations class
§ July ! fireworks signup sheet
§ Charles: Release letters for job in case of deployment. If need, ask Tim.
§ Town of Orange: currently lacks standardized emergency plans
§ Communication with non-English-speaking person: ? language line
Meeting adjourned. Refreshments.