Time for an AAR.
Took the course over the past weekend at Southport HS. LOTS of info. Good instructors, and a VERY worthwhile training. Even if you dont want to get involved with CERT itself, the training is invaluable. You can take the class without getting involved and volunteering with them. They are happy to train us and make us safer even if we dont want to get called up for a disaster or other things they do.
This class was huge, at almost 100 to start. We lost probably about 15 throughout the class as people didnt return to class.
They cover the following:
Disaster Preparedness
Fire and Utility control
Disaster Medical operations (how to triage, head to toe assessments, splinting, transport)
Light Search And Rescue
Disaster Psychology
(other CERT specific topics)
Here is the manual if you just want to absorb some of the material. They also have an online version of the course.
Community Emergency Response Team Basic Training Participant Manual | FEMA.gov
I honestly feel safer and more self reliant thanks to this class.
As an aside, there was only one negative thing, and it had nothing to do with the class itself, but I gotta vent.
There was a group next to me that was really annoying. They were apparently part of some other LEO/public safety connected organization because the loudest, most obnoxious lady of the group had an IMPD Citizen Review Board (or something like that, hard to read in passing) jacket and was constantly making loud, rude comments. Not yelling across the room, but saying it loud enough that everyone could hear. I think the instructors could sometimes hear, but were the bigger one and failed to acknowledge. She would say things like "thats not right!" when she disagreed with a point that wasnt a hard fact but a chosen procedure with multiple possible choices. At one point, they mentioned that when treating female muslim patients, (they didnt call them out by name) you must ask the male with them for permission, not her. That group of harpies lost their fashizzle. They protested, as if getting the instructor to say otherwise would somehow change the reality. They continued to disrupt class by having a loud incredulous discussion among themselves until the instructor had to stop class and ask them if they had a question. Just a bunch of out liberal SJWs that are out of touch with the realities of the world.
Saturday evening, they literally punched the clock at 5 and stood up and left when the instructor ran long and only had 2 pages left for that section. And at one point they were asking questions of the instructor with the express purpose of making her look bad. With the answer right in front of them in the book, they asked the instructor what the minumum strength hand sanitizer you should buy. (60%) When she didnt have the number off the top of their head they all complained amongst themselves that the instructors "really should know their facts better." Really?
And they were apparently from all over Indy and the donut counties. Factual yet not flattering things were said about how both Johnson and Hamilton counties are not as active in the program as Marion County, and you would have thought somebody called their baby ugly while kicking their dog. "You arent going to let him say that about your group are you?" was said by the loudmouth on each occasion. Completely unprofessional visitors. /rant
Took the course over the past weekend at Southport HS. LOTS of info. Good instructors, and a VERY worthwhile training. Even if you dont want to get involved with CERT itself, the training is invaluable. You can take the class without getting involved and volunteering with them. They are happy to train us and make us safer even if we dont want to get called up for a disaster or other things they do.
This class was huge, at almost 100 to start. We lost probably about 15 throughout the class as people didnt return to class.
They cover the following:
Disaster Preparedness
Fire and Utility control
Disaster Medical operations (how to triage, head to toe assessments, splinting, transport)
Light Search And Rescue
Disaster Psychology
(other CERT specific topics)
Here is the manual if you just want to absorb some of the material. They also have an online version of the course.
Community Emergency Response Team Basic Training Participant Manual | FEMA.gov
I honestly feel safer and more self reliant thanks to this class.
As an aside, there was only one negative thing, and it had nothing to do with the class itself, but I gotta vent.
There was a group next to me that was really annoying. They were apparently part of some other LEO/public safety connected organization because the loudest, most obnoxious lady of the group had an IMPD Citizen Review Board (or something like that, hard to read in passing) jacket and was constantly making loud, rude comments. Not yelling across the room, but saying it loud enough that everyone could hear. I think the instructors could sometimes hear, but were the bigger one and failed to acknowledge. She would say things like "thats not right!" when she disagreed with a point that wasnt a hard fact but a chosen procedure with multiple possible choices. At one point, they mentioned that when treating female muslim patients, (they didnt call them out by name) you must ask the male with them for permission, not her. That group of harpies lost their fashizzle. They protested, as if getting the instructor to say otherwise would somehow change the reality. They continued to disrupt class by having a loud incredulous discussion among themselves until the instructor had to stop class and ask them if they had a question. Just a bunch of out liberal SJWs that are out of touch with the realities of the world.
Saturday evening, they literally punched the clock at 5 and stood up and left when the instructor ran long and only had 2 pages left for that section. And at one point they were asking questions of the instructor with the express purpose of making her look bad. With the answer right in front of them in the book, they asked the instructor what the minumum strength hand sanitizer you should buy. (60%) When she didnt have the number off the top of their head they all complained amongst themselves that the instructors "really should know their facts better." Really?
And they were apparently from all over Indy and the donut counties. Factual yet not flattering things were said about how both Johnson and Hamilton counties are not as active in the program as Marion County, and you would have thought somebody called their baby ugly while kicking their dog. "You arent going to let him say that about your group are you?" was said by the loudmouth on each occasion. Completely unprofessional visitors. /rant
