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From Chuck Rader:

This is the Eventbrite sign-up/RSVP posting for the upcoming American Red Cross Shelter Operations Simulation exercise to be conducted on Saturday, 22 June 2019, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the City of Saratoga Prospect Center Friendship Hall facility.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-red-cross-shelter-operations-simulation-tickets-61906159991

There will be two ARC facilitators for this simulation exercise.

If any prospective participants have completed the advanced ARC Shelter Supervisor/Manager curriculum and desire to carry out these responsibilities during the simulation, please let Chuck know via e-mail.

FYI…The venue/location and time of the simulation have changed from what was posted earlier.

You’re invited! Join the Saratoga City Council on Wednesday, June 5 from 5:30 p.m.to 7:00 p.m. for the annual Neighborhoods Joint Meeting in the Saratoga Senior Center at 19655 Allendale Avenue in Saratoga.

The meeting this year will include:

• Dinner
• Presentation from Santa Clara County Fire on Wildfire Preparedness
• Updates from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office 
• Neighborhood Reports (pick a representative to share the latest news in your neighborhood)

 To RSVP or for more information, contact Janet Costa at 408.868.1216 or jcosta@saratoga.ca.us 

The Mass Care Coordination Division of the Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley) chapter of the American Red Cross with be conducting a six-hour Shelter Operations Simulation exercise for Saratoga CERT on Saturday, 22 June 2019, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The exercise will be conducted in the main Joan Pisani Community Center room. The purpose of the exercise is to reinforce the training instruction that Saratoga CERT members received in the recent ARC Shelter Fundamentals class.

For Saratoga CERT members who have completed the advanced Shelter Supervisor/Manager curriculum, the exercise will afford those individuals the opportunity to employ the leadership and organizational skills and knowledge provided in the advanced ARC course of instruction.

An Eventbrite sign-up page will be prepared soon to allow members to register for this important exercise.

The Saturday, 01 June 2019, joint City of Campbell Hamann Park CERT/City of Saratoga CERT 6-hour field training exercise to be held at the City of San Jose’s Marijane Hamann Park. Specific information is as follows:

The Hamann Park Division of the City of Campbell CERT organization has invited the City of Saratoga CERT organization to participate in an upcoming full-deployment, six-hour duration field training exercise. We will be fully integrated into the exercise, and will make up joint Campbell/Saratoga CERT participatory exercise teams. Hamann Park CERT is responsible for providing all role players for the exercise.

The exercise will be carried out on SATURDAY, 01 JUNE 2019, starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 4:00 p.m.

The exercise will be conducted both at and in the vicinity of the City of San Jose’s Marijane Hamann Park. Marijane Hamann Park is located  at the following address:  2747 Westfield Avenue; San Jose, CA 95128

The park is bounded by Westfield Avenue on the north, N Central Avenue on the west, Almarida Drive on the south, and HWY-17 on the east.The rally point for the exercise will be in the grove of trees just south of the park tennis courts, on the Almarida Drive side of the park next to HWY-17.

There is parking along all three streets (Almarida Drive, N Central Avenue, and Westfield Avenue) bordering the park perimeter.

Saratoga CERT exercise participants should be equipped with the following:   (1) your DSW volunteer identification tag issued by Lori McKenna (City of Saratoga staff)   (2) your City of Saratoga CERT vest and ball cap   (3) your CERT “go” backpack, with all recommended items included   (4) all of your CERT personal protective equipment (hardhats, gloves – work + medical, goggles, kneepads, N95 masks, etc.)   (5) your issued FRS radio…there will be follow up e-mail messages informing you of how the radio should be set up for the exercise

If you can participate, we would ask if you could please respond to this Eventbrite RSVP link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hamann-park-cert-annual-disaster-simulation-drill-training-tickets-60791432812

This will insure that the Hamann Park CERT leadership knows exactly how many Saratoga CERT members will be participating in the exercise.

This will be a great learning experience for all exercise attendees. Campbell CERT is widely known throughout the Santa Clara Valley as having one of the most knowledgeable, well-organized, and professional CERT teams.

New Agenda items:

1. Event Update by Jessica

         –May Leadership Meeting

         –Upcoming Events/Trainings/Exercises

        –Quick Tips from Stop the Bleed and Fire Hardening Courses

• Chuck Rader will cover:

(1) CERT identification, apparel and personal protective equipment required upon activation

(2) specific actions to be taken by CERT members after a major magnitude earthquake

(3) potential use of Saratoga CERT members after disasters and incidents other than a major earthquake

(4) City of Saratoga CERT caches

(5) “Go” backpack recommended equipment and items

(6) fundamentals of CERT incident command

If time permits, we may start covering:

  (7) establishment and operation of a CERT divisional incident command post (ICP)

In attendance: Jessica Fullmer, Raji Lukkoor, Peter Commandeur, Sussane Von Stern, Chuck Rader (Cox div guest attendee)

Date: April 29, 2019

Test FRS radios

Raji bought a new Motorola radio model T460

Today’s exercise was successful. Range was between Bucknall & Grimsby and Westmont & SubAcute hospital

Radio etiquette: Identify your name & affiliation

      Next Exercise: Call by phone first; then radio to check range

Maps: Marked out member homes

Laminate: San Jose Blurprint in downtown San Jose, Nikos Media in Milpitas, kinko’s

Chuck to call and ask for laminate with grommets pricing

Membership Recruitment: Attend a PEP class. Upcoming in Los Gatos on May 9; table at Rotary Art Show

Events Update:

-May 23 citywide CERT mtg at 5:30pm

-June 1 Campbell’s Annual Disaster Simulation Drill & Training exercise at Hamman Park, 10:00am – 4:00pm

-Saturday June 22: City of Saratoga CERT Shelter Simulation exercise @ Joan Pisani Ctr; time tbd

-Car show: on Sunday, July 28; need 2-3 volunteers per time slot, including set up and tear down

Chuck’s Update:

Means of Activation during a disaster:

-AlertSCC: text, cellphone and landline voicemail, email

-Broadcast radio: AM and FM channels – City of Saratoga 1610 kHz AM

Regular Broadcast KCBS 740 kHz AM

KFRC 106.9 MHz FM

KSJO 92.3 MHz FM

-Ham #: Hams operators will contact City EOC via the Ham network

Pre-activation response activation:

-checkout yourself, your family, your neighbors, neighbors at risk (special needs, elderly, alone)

-start your neighborhood assessments (unofficial)

-have a hand-held AM/FM band radio listening for messages

(Buy a radio with batteries and a crank)

Formal Activation deployment activities:

-Pre-identify teams (incident commanders)

-walk thru your areas of responsibility and note

-Establish Incident Command post and field medical treatment area: El Quito Park for Quito and Gardiner Park for WV (Chuck to talk to Chrystal about permission to use parks)

-Have a mini-cache at ICP; maintain cache in a caged area or area with chain link

Mini-cache contents: material to set up ICP, generators, medical supplies, tarps

General Comments:

Medical aspect of neighborhood assessment: Sect 6.1

Major structural damage

Ruptured gas lines

Major fire

Mass casualty situation

On secondary disasters, CERT will be activated to man shelters.

Action Item: Read thru the draft EOP.

Next Steps:

Chuck’s training update to be continued…

Next Mtg: Wednesday, May 22 @ 6:30pm mtg

Members to connect by phone for radio exercise at 5:30pm 

Meeting held on Thursday, 04 April 2019 from 6:15 p.m. to 7:55 p.m. at the home of Lori Stafford.

Saratoga Cox CERT Division meeting attendees were the following:

1. Tom Baker
2. Uma Challa
3. Debbie Ellis
4. Kevin Marques (19 May 2019 CERT Academy graduate)
5. Peter Melhus
6. Chuck Rader
7. Brad Silveria
8. Lori Stafford
9. Lyle Topham
10. Jeff Walker

Discussion items:

• The results of the first monthly Cox CERT Division FRS radio check-in drill conducted on Monday evening, 01 April 2019, were discussed by Peter Melhus. A total of eight divisional members were successful in checking in with the simulated CERT Incident Command Post (manned by Peter Melhus as our initial drill Net Control) at Kevin Moran Park. Three members were not able to establish contact with the simulated ICP. These were Debbie Ellis and Jack Griswold in the Saratoga Woods neighborhood and Kevin Marques in the eastern side of the Brookview neighborhood. All three of these attempted – and unsuccessful – contacts replicated what was seen in the prior maximum-range FRS radio experiment conducted by Peter Melhus, Chuck Rader and Brad Silveria on Friday, 01 February 2019. That experiment – and the 01 April check-in drill – confirmed that CERT team members living in the far extremes of the divisional AOR, and attempting radio contact with a CERT Incident Command Post in Kevin Moran Park, will not be able to establish direct communications via FRS radio. Instead, they will need to work through an intermediate relay contact to get their message traffic into the ICP.

The next monthly FRS radio check-in drill will be conducted on Monday, 06 May 2019, at 7:30 p.m. Chuck Rader will act as Net Control for this month’s exercise, and will again be positioned at the simulated ICP in Kevin Moran Park. All participating divisional team members will log whether they (1) were successful in reaching Net Control, along with logging (2) who they heard on Channel 11 test frequency and (3) whether they were able to act successfully as an intermediate relay contact for more distant FRS operators.

In an effort to determine if a successful FRS radio “bridge” can be established with our more distant members in both Saratoga Woods and the eastern side of the Brookview neighborhood, Peter Melhus will position himself at the intersection of Titus Avenue and Bellwood Drive to act as an intermediately-positioned FRS relay “station.” 

Future monthly check-in drills will be conducted on the first Monday of every month, unless the group decides differently.

• A review of all upcoming CERT-related training and exercises for the next 90 days was discussed. Please see the other attachment to this e-mailed minutes document.

• Training was continued from the Cox CERT Division Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Training topics included:  
  • conclusion of discussion on CERT activation (mobilization) and initial post-activation activities
  • CERT apparel, identification, and personal protective equipment
  • City of Saratoga CERT caches and the need for “mini-caches” of “starter” material at identified locations earmarked for CERT incident command posts
  • “go” backpack organization and recommended contents

              Training topics for the next monthly divisional meeting include:

1. CERT incident command: what it means and the responsibilities of the CERT Incident Commander
   1. the establishment and operations of a CERT incident command post
   1. additional staffing requirements to fully man a CERT incident command post, and the responsibilities of these other ICP members
   1. area hazards assessment for the Cox CERT area of responsibility
   1. use of Saratoga CERT members after disasters or incidents other than a major magnitude earthquake

ACTION ITEM(S)

• Chuck Rader to contact Michael Taylor and Crystal Bothelio in regard to the

FEMA/California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services monetary grant under the “CERT Capacity Building RFA” program. This program makes available a total of $9.5 million, to be divided among registered California CERT programs and County CERT programs as grants through an RFA process.  The grants will be tied to deliverables for the California for All Emergency Preparedness Campaign.  The RFA will be released on 03 April 2019 with an application due date of 09 May 2019.  Programs will have from June 2019 to January 2021 to expend the grant funds.  All CERT programs in California that are registered on the FEMA CERT website (of which the City of Saratoga CERT program is one) will be eligible to request grant funding.

            A proposal would be for this grant money to be used by the City of Saratoga

            to purchase:

1. medical supplies promoted during the “Stop the Bleed” training, such as C.A.T. Gen 7 tourniquets, QuikClot, NuStat or Celox Z-fold bleeding control dressings (hemostatic gauze), and H&H flat-fold compression bandages.
2. storage sheds, storage boxes and any fencing requirements for divisional “mini-caches” at identified divisional incident command post sites (i.e., El Quito Park, Kevin Moran Park, etc.)
3. additional “general-purpose” CERT supplies for the main cache locations

CARRY-OVER ACTION ITEMS FROM THE FEBRUARY DIVISIONAL MEETING:

• Chuck Rader to research the role the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner-Coroner and federal DMORT resources have in addressing the deceased after a major-magnitude earthquake.

• Chuck Rader to research the possibility of using Church of the Ascension Catholic Church and Congregation Beth David Jewish Synagogue as inclement weatherCERT medical treatment sites.

• Chuck Rader to continue discussions with the City of Saratoga on establishing a “subset” cache of immediate response CERT materials and equipment on the grounds of Kevin Moran Park.

NEXT COX CERT DIVISIONAL MEETING:

        Monday, 13 May 2019, from 6:00 p.m. to approximately 7:45 p.m.

        location: Lori Stafford’s house at 19850 Kane Court, Saratoga, CA

In attendance: Davina Morgan-Witts, Caron Whitacre, Marion Yager, Bob Yager, Susan Schwaderer, Ray Froess, Betty Froess, William Brooks, Candy Brooks, Craig Pietrow, Tina Hubbard, Sally Suckow, John Suckow, Stephen Ng, Chuck Rader (Cox Division)

Minutes

1. Craig Pietrow distributed FRS radios to those with DSW cards who do not have a radio.

If you have not yet got a Disaster Service Worker card, please get one soon as you will not be eligible to be activated without one. Contact Lori McKenna in the City’s planning office: http://saratogacert.org/documents/

2. If you are in need of CERT-related equipment, including a radio, contact Craig direct (email address removed when posting online).

3.The meeting discussed upcoming training opportunities, in particular STOP THE BLEED on April 25. Please sign up at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/saratoga-stop-the-bleed-tickets-58746913600
at the time of writing there are 4 seats left for the early session, and 13 for the later one.

Other training opportunities are in the monthly Saratoga CERT newsletter, and in the attached handouts:
– 2019 CERT Refresher Training
– Additional Training Opportunities
Please attend all that you can.

4. There are six CERT Academies each year, one in each of the cities in the Santa Clara County Fire Department. Saratoga’s event runs April 30 – May 19. Please encourage friends and neighbors to sign up, particularly those already involved with Neighborhood Watch.

5. The meeting discussed, and Davina later distributed, information on the location of our emergency cache, and other relevant division information including contact information for all active members of the division.

7. Marion Yager volunteered to be deputy logistics supporting William Brooks. Thank you Marion! Our division is in need of a deputy or co-lead to support Davina.

8. Chuck Rader led the group in a focused training session on the first section of the Emergency Operations Plan for Cox Division. He has graciously agreed to lead future sessions covering the remainder of the EOP. Volunteers are needed to help develop Argonaut CERT’s own division EOP. This will be relatively easy as we can build on the work already done by Cox division, editing only the elements that are specific to our division, such as location of cache(s), meeting points, etc. Please contact Davina if you are able to help.

Now available on our RESOURCES page

The upcoming CERT Academy in Saratoga appeared in the most recent Saratoga Neighborhood Watch newsletter: https://www.saratoga.ca.us/CivicSend/ViewMessage/Message/79683

Saratoga CERT Meeting Minutes

2019-03-28 — minutes by Jeff Walker and Charles Rader

Meeting started at 17:32 by Brent Hailpern

Opening discussion:

• Michael Taylor introduced Crystal Bothelo, Deputy City Manager who is taking over Saratoga’s EM duties
• Michael Taylor might get a meeting or two between CERT leadership and Crystal to help pass the torch.
• The CERT AED is now in the trailer and will be looked after by the Saratoga staff.  It is actually on the city’s prescription as well.
• Morris Jones has installed the Ham radio in the CERT trailer.  VHF, UHF, solar panels, mag. mount antenna
• Next, Petersen Base needs a similar Ham radio setup.
• Jeff mentioned that the trailer needs to move 2 to 4 times a year or should be placed on blocks to not permanently damage the tires.  Michael would like it out and present at things like the car show, preparedness fairs, etc.

Craig’s report on Logistics and FRS:

• Peter wrote a 2 page usage guide for the FRS radios
• Craig did a quick show-n-tell:
  • Batteries (non-rechargeable Lithium is the best, don’t leave them in the radio)
  • Power, volume, channel selection, privacy code, call tone, monitor, squelch, power high, …
  • Someone suggested that the instructions make their way to the website
  • Craig has given out over 20 FRS radios thus far.  Need to be active with a DSW card to get a radio.
• Logistics report:
  • Generators all tested about 3 weeks ago except for one of the larger CYB units.
  • ½ of all the search and rescue supplies moved to Petersen from CYB
  • Discussion about starting a ICP cache at Keven Moran park.
  • El Quito park would like to establish similar cache
  • Discussion about deciding what constitutes an ‘ICP in a box’ and then get it in for budgeting over next year or two.
  • Need to re-stock a few consumable items for new graduates before mid-May (green t-shirts, backpacks, etc)
  • Discussed the need for a Logistics Deputy to give coverage for someone out of town…or…to cover opening two bases concurrently.
  • Discussed who can drive the trailer.
    • Should be city staff and city vehicles in most cases
    • In an emergency, with proper direction, a CERT member with proper towing capability can tow the trailer.  Ball and hitch is available in the trailer.

Cox Division:

• Shelter Fundamentals was held last month.  Thanks to those who attended.
• A few CERT members should consider stepping up to get the Shelter Supervisor credentials from ARC
• ARC will hold a shelter simulation likely on 6/22 (9:00 AM – 1:00 PM) and hopefully 12 to 15 CERT members whom have completed the Shelter Fundamentals classroom training.
  • The American Red Cross Shelter Simulation exercise for Saratoga CERT will be scheduled for Saturday, 22 June 2019 (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) with Jim Mollerus, the ARC Silicon Valley Chapter Mass Care Coordinator. The desired number of Saratoga CERT participants is between 12 to 15, all of which have attended the ARC Shelter Fundamentals classroom training. Of this total, it is further requested that four Saratoga CERT members have volunteered to take the additional training curriculum to become credentialed Shelter Supervisors.
  • If you missed the 25 February 2019 Shelter Fundamentals training class in the City of Saratoga Pisani training portable, it is still possible to attend two other training classes being conducted outside of Saratoga. These are:     (a) Saturday, 06 April 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the City of Los Altos Grant Park Community Center, classroom #1 (1575 Holt Avenue; Los Altos, CA 94024).     (b) Saturday, 11 May 2019, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Los Gatos Jewish Community Center (14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos, CA 95032).Please contact Chuck Rader at e-mail address charles_rader@hotmail.com if you desire to attend. He will forward the contact information for signing up for the classes.

• Stop The Bleed:
  • Thursday, 4/25 5:30 until 7:00: 8 seats available
  • Thursday, 4/25 7:10 – 8:40: 15 seats available
  • If seats are not filled and we get closer to the event, it will be opened up to NW groups, then possibly to NextDoor.  We really need to fill all the seats.
  • Someone asked if city will provide tourniquets, clotting gauze, etc.  Michael Taylor would prefer participants to obtain those materials themselves.
  • Details from Charles: Stop the Bleed classroom training: Two sessions to be held on Thursday, 25 April 2019      Currently, for the 5:30 p.m. training session: 12 seats of 20 total have been reserved. Eight seats remain to be filled.      Currently, for the 7:10 p.m. training session: 5 seats of 20 total have been reserved. Fifteen seats remain to be filled.Please ensure all Saratoga CERT members are made aware of this excellent training. Chuck Rader will make any seats not reserved by 05 April available to (1) Saratoga Neighborhood Watch leads, and (2) to the general Saratoga community through the Nextdoor website.
• The City of Campbell Hamann Park CERT Division will be holding a six-hour long full-deployment field training exercise on Saturday, 01 June 2019, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The rally point for the exercise will be in the southwest corner of the City of San Jose Marijane Hamann Park (just to the south of the tennis courts, off Almarida Drive). Street address for the park: 2747 Westfield Avenue; San Jose, CA 95128). Saratoga CERT has been invited to participate in the exercise either as observers, integral members of the Hamann Park CERT field assessment teams, or as role players. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in an exercise conducted by a CERT organization with a long history of conducting comprehensive, well-planned exercises. Initial exercise planning calls for the establishment of a divisional CERT Incident Command Post, a CERT field medical treatment site, and the deployment of a large number of post-disaster neighborhood assessment teams. If you are interested in participating, please contact Chuck Rader at e-mail address charles_rader@hotmail.com. 

West Valley Division

• Jessica showed off maps that the GIS specialist within the city has provided.  Jessica to ask if street numbers can be added to the parcels.  Then will get printed and laminated.
• Jessica discussed that we still need two to four more folks to help man the table at the Blossom Festival on 4/13.  Michael has an eventBrite link for registering to help.
  • To register for the 4/13 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM shift: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cert-table-at-blossom-festival-2019-shift-930am-to-100pm-tickets-58874624587?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
  • To register for the 4/13 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM shift: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cert-table-at-blossom-festival-100pm-to-430pm-shift-tickets-58874996700?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Argonaut

• Looks like Jeff P. not able to assist in co-leading this Division.
• Davina interested in getting another to assist in the running of this division.

Vineyard

• CERT & NW discussed at each monthly resident’s meeting
• They have a mini-cache of supplies in this division
• They will help communicate the upcoming academy to the residents
• They are also trying to bootstrap their NW program.

Upcoming SCCFD trainings:

• Disaster Psychology Refresher:
  • Saratoga Prospect Center
  • Grace Building
  • 4/11 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
  • An American Red Cross Disaster Psychology specialist will present their materials
  • Registration link:  https://cert_refresher_psych.eventbrite.com
• Academy:
  • Tuesday and Thursdays 4/30, 5/2, 5/7, 5/9, 5/14, 5/16, and a graduation on Sunday (NOT Saturday) 5/19
  • Registration link: https://saratogacert2019.eventbrite.com
  • Jeff will share with Michael the need for Saratoga CERT participation on various evenings and especially on the Graduation exercise.  Saratoga CERT really needs to help make the graduation exercise a success.  We’ll need one or two radio communication folks, and an additional 4 or 5 to pair up with firefighters at the various skills stations.  We are all skilled and qualified to take on these roles, so, please step up and help out.  Look for an Eventbrite to be created to register to assist.

Errata:

• Heard more than once that we need to share more of our content via the saratogacert.org website.
• We need to publish all activities on the website calendar.
• If you need credentials to author documents, blogposts, or calendar entries, please contact Brent for access.
• If you have a need for more native FTP access, please contact Jeff.

Meeting adjourned 19:03