National Fire Safety Week

Members of Fairfax County CERT were at FEMA Headquarters as part of the National Kickoff for Fire Safety Week.

Here is a video of the FEMA Administrator taken during the event:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=131960896854421

Also don't forget to check out the Citizen Corps Volunteers facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps for additional tips.

What do Project Runway, Home Depot Tarp and CERT have in common?

Fairfax County CERT had an exhibit at the Capital Home Show (September 24-26 in Dulles, VA). TV's Project Runway stopped by the booth to model the dress made from a Home Depot tarp - clothes for any disaster.

Additional information about CERT at the home show can be found at http://fairfaxcountycert.blogspot.com

Scanners May Be Your Only Option To Know If Help Is On The Way

In CERT, we learn "Following a major disaster, first responders who provide fire and medical services will not be able to meet the demand for these services. Factors as number of victims, communication failures, and road blockages will prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment's notice through 911. People will have to rely on each other for help in order to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs." (www.citizencorps.gov/cert/about)

You call 911 and you are unable to get through. How do you know if help is arriving and how bad is the situation?

One option is to find your local emergency agency on a scanner. The following website provides live feeds from across the country.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/

For additional tips, visit http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Our Blog and Facebook Page are a Ready.gov Coalition Partner are you?

Neighbors Helping Neighbors has been contacted by the FEMA Office of External Affairs to help share the "Emergency Preparedness" message on our blog for September.

"Greetings:

I am writing to see if I can interest your blog in a topic for September – emergency preparedness.

National Preparedness Month (NPM), sponsored by FEMA’s Ready Campaign, is a national campaign during the month of September to increase emergency preparedness across the U.S. I am currently reaching out to emergency and disaster-related blogs to ask for help in encouraging Americans to take steps toward preparedness. Slightly more than half of Americans say they have taken steps toward preparedness, and your blog would be a great place to encourage the rest to get prepared.

You can find information about the Ready Campaign and National Preparedness Month at Ready.gov, and I can provide you with additional information or answer any of your questions. This is such an important, yet often forgotten task, not just during National Preparedness Month, but year-round. We would be delighted if your blog would consider supporting preparedness.

Thank you in advance for your support,

... on behalf of
The Ready Campaign
Office of External Affairs
Federal Emergency Management Agency
npm@dhs.gov"

Readers of our blog, who have their own blog and facebook page, such as http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps should also spread this message of "Emergency Preparedness".

Fairfax County Declares September Emergency Preparedness Month

The Board of Supervisors designated September 2010 as Emergency Preparedness Month in Fairfax County.

Pictured above are staff from Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management and Citizen Corps representatives.

"Residents of Fairfax County are encouraged to prepare themselves and their families for emergencies by organizing an emergency supply kit; formulating a personal preparedness plan; becoming knowledgeable about various threats; and becoming involved in preparing their community." (Source: www.fairfaxcounty.gov).

In addition, "the Board of Supervisors designated Aug. 3 as National Night Out in Fairfax County. The Fairfax County Police Department sponsors National Night Out to promote the importance of community-police partnerships, neighborhood safety and public awareness of crime prevention programs."

Did Someone Say FREE Advertising?

So how can we expand outreach when our budgets are being cut? Did you know that many of the local papers offer free advertising for non-profit groups!

For example, the Washington Post Local Living Section:

"To submit an item E-mail fxliving@washpost.com, Mail: Volunteers, Fairfax Living, The Washington Post, 4020 University Dr., Suite 220, Fairfax, Va. 22030

Details: Items, published weekly on a space-available basis, are accepted from nonprofit groups."

To view comments on this, visit http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

CERT Celebrate's Fairfax

Did you know that CERT will have volunteers at this coming weekend's Celebrate Fairfax?

Saturday night headliner is KC and the Sunshine Band.

For additional information about CERT's role, visit the Fairfax County CERT blog.

Large Scale CERT

CERT in Fairfax County is no small feet, but neither is a major disaster.

Over 50 students participated in a CERT Final Exercise this past weekend. There were over 100 "victims" who also were volunteers in the community.

The final exercise provided extensive hands-on training to the students at the old Lorton Prison Grounds and increased awareness for all the "victims". This was the first time the final exercise was not held at the fire academy.

Citizen Corps Releases New CERT Videos

Did you know that real CERT Volunteers were used in the recently released CERT videos?

Check out the videos filmed in the National Capital Region at:

http://citizencorps.gov/cert/videos/

And join the discussion with other volunteers on Facebook at:

http://www.facebook.com/citizencorps

Teen/Campus CERT Train-the-Trainer

This past weekend, Volunteer CERT Instructors in Northern Virginia completed the Teen/Campus CERT Train-the-Trainer Power Workshop.

Congratulations to the new Teen and C-CERT Instructors!

Thank you to Arlington County for hosting the training (and the creative candy dish idea, pictured above) and to VDEM for bringing the training to the area.

Trailer Leads Way to Expand CERT Training

Pictured above, at the Capital Home Show, are Jack and Suzy Ledgerwood and Andrew Levy, Volunteer CERT instructors, during the public release of the Fairfax County CERT Trailer. The trailer was purchased with the assistance of a DHS grant.

With Fairfax County being over 400 square miles, the hands on CERT program had traditionally been taught at the Fire Academy, located in the north of the county. There had been requests to teach those living in South County. CERT 1 was created and enabled people to take the CERT course in South County, however, primarily classroom based. CERT 2, a hands on course could not be taught without getting the pallets, 2x4s, and other equipment to the training locations, in other parts of the county.

The CERT trailer will enable the hands on course to be taught in other parts of the county.

Additional information about the different levels of CERT courses (CERT 1, 2, and 3) can be found at www.fairfaxcert.org

Crowds at Capital Home Show Prepared for Next Disaster

Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) had a display and demonstrations at the Capital Home Show.

How can you get people to come over to your booth, when the focus was not on selling home products? Take the child of one of the volunteer instructors, have her lay down on the ground (on the show floor), put on some fake blood and ...



... and see the crowds form (both adults and children look on), as CERT rescues her in a demonstration.

VDEM Offers CERT Train-the-Trainer Courses

Are you looking for a course that will train you to teach CERT?

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) is offering the CERT Train-the-trainer course. Registration is now open.

"This course is designed to prepare participants to institute a CERT program in their communities. Organizational topics to be briefly reviewed include: program planning, funding sources, recruiting, training, supervision, team member retention and legal concerns. Topics to be covered from the CERT course will include: disaster preparedness, fire suppression, first aid, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, teaching the adult learner and terrorism awareness. There will be a variety of hands-on practical exercises for certain topics."

Additional information, and signup instructions can be found at:
http://www.vaemergency.com/train/calendar_course.cfm?id=23

Fairfax County CERT Featured at Capital Home and Garden Show

The Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was "given a unique opportunity-placing a CERT display and doing extrication demonstration drills at the Capital Home & Garden Show running February 25-28th at the Dulles Expo Center" (CERT PIO).

They expect to see around 35,000 people during the event, as well as media overage. "CERT skill demonstrations every two hours."

What a great opportunity for community outreach? But where are the volunteers?

The only problem is the day before the event ONLY 4 people volunteered for this exhibit. MANY more people are needed to help make this a success.

To sign up, additional information is available on the Fairfax County CERT Blog.

CERT Volunteer Snowed in During the Recent Blizzard?

Are you a CERT volunteer snowed in during the recent blizzard? Then we know you have an emergency preparedness kit (complete with food, flashlights, batteries, water, etc.) So you are prepared!

There are still a few things you can do:

- Check on your neighbors.

- Shovel out a fire hydrant.

Also, do you know what number to call, if you lose power and need someone to come evacuate you to a shelter? Chances are that someone will come and just pick you up are probably a little unlikely.

A good number to have on hand is your local county emergency hotline/information number.

CERT Trains with the Best of the Best

Our previous discussion was about CERT (Indirectly) Plays Role in Haiti as the CERT volunteeers were volunteer victims for multiple Urban Search and Rescue Exercises to help them prepare for responses like Haiti.

"Yes, that man in the stars and stripes headwrap is our very own CERT instructor Steve Willey. Steve is a structural engineer with Virginia Task force one. www.vatf1.org" (Source: Fairfax County CERT Blog).

This is just more proof that many of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) students train with the best of the best.

Thanks to Steve and all the Urban Search and Rescue Teams responding to this disaster. We wish you all safe returns and look forward to you sharing your experiences through future training sessions once you get settled back.

CERT (indirectly) Plays Role In Haiti Disaster Response

Neighbors Helping Neighbors thanks and wishes the Urban Search and Rescue Teams safe travels as they respond to the disaster in Haiti.

But where does the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) fit in?

Ever wonder where these teams train and where they find volunteer victims? Members of the local CERT, as pictured below, serve as volunteer victims, as these teams train for these types of emergencies.

Additional information can be found at: http://fairfaxcountycert.blogspot.com/2010/01/haitian-response.html

Other Citizen Corps programs, such as the American Red Cross, are also preparing to provide services for residents from Haiti as they arrive into the United States.

Join the New Citizen Corps Facebook Group

Joing the new Citizen Corps/Neighbors Helping Neighbors Group on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Citizen-Corps/244273467113?ref=mf

Frostival 2010 with a CERT Twist

"How can you get the CERT message across to 2 to 12 year olds without scaring them for life? Make it a GAME.

Our Outreach Team came up with a fun game that was informative as well as giving the player a prize. Who doesn't like getting a prize!!! So, the kids got to stick their hand in a green box filled with white plastic peanuts and pull out a piece of paper with a question. If the answer was given correctly (with help from mom or dad, or the ever helpful CERT booth babes or dudes) a nifty pen light or CERT pen was given. This game drew a crowd!!

We also had a quieter coloring page activity. 275 Preparedness Activity books were handed out as well. And we got a full page of parental sign ups for CERT classes. Those of you CERTs that were nursing a hangover; you missed a great event. We had a booth location near the stage." (Reprinted from Fairfax County CERT Blog)

Neighbors Helping Neighbors was pleased to suggest the concept of pulling questions out of the snow (box). And applauds the local CERT team for another successful outreach event.

Join Multiple Citizen Corps Organizations To Make A Bigger Difference

H1N1 Clinics
Fairfax County Medical Reserve Corps (MRC)
We Train. We Exercise. We Do.

Several folks from other Citizen Corps programs have inquired how they can join others and help out with the Fairfax County Health Department H1N1 Vaccination Clinics.

For example, the Fairfax Coutny CERTs you have seen at the clinics, are also Fairfax County MRC volunteers. Many volunteers in Fairfax County are also members of and trained in other Citizen Corps programs.

In order to volunteer with the clinics, you are required to be an MRC volunteer. If you are interested in joining MRC, you can signup at https://www.fairfaxmrc.org/regprocess.php

You will then need to attend MRC 101 Orientation. The next class is December 16th from 7-9pm.