So I went through CERT training last week.  It was pretty cool and I learned a few things (like the importance of taking refresher first aid courses every once in a while).

But of course HSA didn’t get our backpacks in on time for the class, and while I wait for mine, I can’t help but think that there are a few things I’d like to improve upon in the kit.

The first thing I know I’ll have to upgrade is the gloves cuz I’ve got gorilla hands, right after that I’ll be buying some more comfortable eye protection.

One of the guys from class “thinks” he’s found a deal on 4-in-1 tools at $21 delivered and I’m positive I can get them cheaper than that – but who cares about cheap?  Are there bigger and more bad ass emergency tools out there?  I’d be interested in hearing more about what sort of equipment other CERT people currently pack.

Funny CERT class story:

So, it’s 11:15AM on a Saturday morning and we’re all sitting around a class room in the American Red Cross, Milwaukee Chapter (on 26th & Wisconsin – a real shite neighborhood – right down the street from Marquette University) when one of the guys working the front desk opens the classroom door.  He’s cradling about 3 boxes of rubber gloves and about half-dozen-bandages; some are unrolling themselves off of him and spilling on to the floor.  He says, “Uh, excuse me everyone.  There’s been someone shot across the street.”

A friend of mine sitting in the table in front of me, who’d just returned from working a stressful tour at an ARC shelter in Biloxi, turns to me and says, “Pfft , It’s a drill.”  But the cop and the RN giving the lectures, as well as the retired firefighter and the M.D. also taking the class spring into action and start heading for the front of the building

My attitude, tactical as always, was “Someone’s shooting outside?  Stay in front of me where’s it’s safe!” so I was one of the last people exiting the classroom.  But it wasn’t a drill, sure enough, across the corner, there’s a woman lying on the sidewalk right next to the steps of a bank.  It was the first of the month, and it was an exceptionally busy time at the bank and the check cashing joints nearby.  Traffic at the intersection had quickly become massively tied up and there are all sorts of people running around pointing and yelling at various stuff.

As we’re heading out the front doors, the woman in front of me (64 years old, and she actually works in the building everyday) mistook the glass partition of the foyer right next to the door AS the door and face plants into the glass in a manner reminiscent of Daffy Duck meeting a frying pan.  

She smacked into it at full speed and went directly backwards and down. She must of have done this before because she expertly tucked her chin down as she was falling backwards, and due to her rotund body, rolled on to her back and thankfully didn’t smack her posterior fossa whatsoever on the tile in the foyer (which is what I was expecting to happen).  

I looked down at her and said something like, “HOLY SHIT! Are you OK?”.  She propped herself up on her elbows, looked at me and said, “Oh I’m fine honey, I’m fine.  Just go on out there.”  (Which really, looking back at it now, is actually the ultimate in über tactical moves one could pull when they’re about to exit a secured building and enter busy city street where a known active shooter has just been located – yes, send out the big white guy!  See, now I’m her bullet stopper.  Kudos, Madame.  Kudos.).  We went back later and looked at where her head made contact on the glass – it looked like the shroud of Turin with respect that you could make out every facial detail perfectly on the grease stain she left.

So I finally make it across the street.  The GSW is on her side encircled by 8 volunteers with probably close to two centuries of emergency response experience between them.  They’re all gloved, applying direct pressure, covering her in a blanket, just working the situation really well.

She’s alert and angry, but not responsive in a helpful sense: “What’s your name?”  “Where are you hurt?”  No answer - she wants her cell phone, but it’s gone.  Someone gives her a cell phone a she starts punching in a phone number as her jeans are being cut off.  She felt the most important thing to do at that time was call her manager, “Tom?  I’m gonna be late coming in today because I was shot.”  The phone call ends and she begins shaking and turns an ashen gray – boom - just like that, it was time for shock to set in.

So I take it upon myself to start crowd control, because despite the fact there’s a woman lying on the sidewalk who’s just been shot – there are still people trying to get into the bank and conduct their business even though the bank security guard has of course locked the doors.

I’m doing my best impression of Officer Barbrady, trying to keep the crowd out of the way when I start to hear what actually happened.  This woman had just walked out of the bank when two thugs with their shirt collars pulled up over their noses (in classic bad guy style) walk up to her and while one starts yanking on her purse the other pushes her down to the ground.  But she still has a firm grip on her purse, so one of the turds whips out his gat and shoots the woman causing her to finally release the purse.  They run off towards some apartment buildings never to be seen again.  The bullet (maybe a .380, nobody knows) entered near her hip and no exit was found.

Taking in comments like, “Those two boys just shot someone’s Momma – they ain’t going to be alive come tomorrow.” and, “Shit, I saw the whole thing.  If I would’ve been strapped I could have capped those two assholes easy.” the MFD fire truck comes roaring in.  One guy jumps out, saunters over, looks over the situation, rests his rubber gloved hands on his hips and leans over towards the lady on the sidewalk, “Hey, that’s not too bad of a place to get shot.  You’re gonna be home tonight!”  INSTANTLY she starts looking better and is able to communicate with the cop about what happened.  The ambulance came and took her to the hospital where they took the bullet out, and as far as I know, she got released the next morning.  No word on whether the six external bank cameras got anything useful (or whether they even worked) so, rest assured, unless street justice has taken its course, the two bad guys are still out roaming free and living large.

So then we all ambled back to class, did a lot of the nervous chatting thing (a wee bit of the logorrhea kicking in – which I thought was normal), and had some laughs because thankfully everything turned out well.  Then we went right back in to the exciting lesson plan which I believe at the time was covering the different classes of fires and their appropriate extinguishers – which we all know is pretty scintillating stuff.  And that’s the end of the story.

www.qualitycertsupplies.com/

www.safetyservicesinc.com/certs/

www.batterysavers.com/emergency_preparedness_kit.htm

tcr.safeshopper.com/42/cat42.htm?758

www.avertdisasters.org/indexCERTSupp.html

www.cert-kits.com/apparel.html

Here's a start....Good luck

Interesting story Dolomite.

The EMT's bedside manner piqued my interest though - it's almost like a small child that falls down... If you get all concerned and jump up and gasp, the baby will look at you and cry. If you say "whoopsie! Fall down, go boom!" and laugh it off (assuming of course they're not really injured), they'll look at you and smile.

Something to remember should you (me, anyone) come across an accident situation.

Did you type that entire second post in 49 seconds???

The opportunity to do CERT came up again this year, but it was awful timing and I wouldn't have been able to go to most of the meetings.

Hopefully it will come up again.  I'm in ARES, so it would be nice to get some of our comm people into the CERT organization.

Jim

Dolomite can you give me more info on this stuff(CERT training)? not familiar with it and I would like to know more.

Quoted: The EMT's bedside manner piqued my interest though - Something to remember should you (me, anyone) come across an accident situation.

Xactly.  Watching the guy pull this, "Oh?  That's all you got shot?" routine right in front of me, I was thinking, well, this could go one of two ways...    
(but, bottom line, it worked).

And oddly enough, garage-logician it did take a little longer than 49 seconds to type that out.  Actually, most of it's an excerpt from an e-mail I sent a friend shortly after it happened.  I'd have posted it sooner on the arfcom but I believe at the time I was at training my account here had been locked for poking fun at all the "White Pride" types here.

AZ_RN - thanks for the links!

Photo-man:  Not the most up to date website - but here ya go:

www.citizencorps.wi.gov/

Quoted: AZ_RN - thanks for the links! Photo-man:  Not the most up to date website - but here ya go: www.citizencorps.wi.gov/

Thanks for the link.

Quoted: The opportunity to do CERT came up again this year, but it was awful timing and I wouldn't have been able to go to most of the meetings. Hopefully it will come up again.  I'm in ARES, so it would be nice to get some of our comm people into the CERT organization. Jim

Our group had to get CERT certified before the county would RACES certify us. We're all ARES though. Even though CERT is a great program, we doubt very much we'll ever use it because our primary goal is EmComm. Have you taken any of the ARRL EmComm courses? I'll start Level III in a week or so. Have you taken any of the FEMA EMI courses online? (Emergency Management Institute).

4-in-1 tool?


You mean something like this?





$12.99 at Galls before shipping. I'm sure it can be found cheaper elsewhere.

4-in1 tool @ Galls