If an earthquake, major fire or other disaster impacts our neighborhood, those of us who live on the Peninsula may be needed to assist in the emergency response efforts. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is designed to provide basic organizational and procedural training to allow members to deliver safe, timely and effective assistance to their neighbors after a major emergency.
The CERT organization is built around Block Captains and their back-ups, who provide the eyes and ears needed to assess the post-disaster situation on their blocks. Using FRS radios or “runners,” the Block Captains should relay status reports to our Command Post, which is a radio base station located at 76 61st Place. The Command Post will build a picture of the situation on the Peninsula and relay that information to the City’s Emergency Operations Center. The Command Post will also pass that information to a Staging Area, from which several specialized teams will be dispatched to deal with problems as they are identified.
The Staging Area for the Peninsula CERT is physically located in the parking lot at the north end of 62nd Place. CERT members and other concerned citizens who want to help their neighbors and our community in the event of some type of disaster, should report to the Staging Area for assignment. In addition to the Block Captains, the CERT organization includes teams for Fire Suppression, Medical Response, Search and Rescue and Logistics. With the exception of the Medical Response Team, which will stage at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, all other teams will report to the Staging Area for tasking.
The Staging Area will be broken into four basic sections: Fire Suppression, Search and Rescue, Logistics and Volunteers. People reporting to the Staging Area will be encouraged to bring their own tools and safety equipment. Each person will be registered and polled to determine any specialized skills or experience, which might be needed. A roster of volunteers and their skills should be maintained. The Staging Area Leader should, if possible, maintain a record of those personnel dispatched to various incidents.