Ohio CERT Survey and Re-registration of Programs
Josh Vittie, Ohio EMA - State CERT Coordinator
Welcome to issue #2 of Ohio's CERTainly Prepared Newsletter!
First: I need ALL CERT Programs (and counties, with or without a CERT Program) to answer a short survey. For counties without a program, the survey should take 2-3 minutes. For active programs, the survey should take between 6-10 minutes.
Second: FEMA HQ is attempting to correct the issues that occurred with the program registration migration from the old CERT website to the Ready.Gov site. In working with our FEMA V representatives, we have decided that the best path to do so is to clear all programs and re-register only vetted and verified programs that are currently active in Ohio.
I will be using the information collected in the survey to determine if a program will be approved or not.
You MUST register your program and have it approved by the State to be able to request CERT Manuals and materials from FEMA!!!
These are the first steps in an ongoing process to gain better awareness of the CERT Programs throughout Ohio and being better able to recruit and retain residents into our programs.
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 Franklin County CERT Multi-Agency Exercise
Christopher Williams, Franklin County Emergency Management & Homeland Security
On Saturday, November 2nd 2019, Franklin County Community Emergency Response Team (FC CERT) conducted an Individual Assistance Damage Assessment (DA) exercise in Franklin County across five MetroParks and Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security. FC CERT volunteers, along with several other CERTs from around Ohio, participated in a day-long Full-Scale Exercise to test damage assessment capabilities, command and coordination, and communications capabilities from the field to the Emergency Operations Center.
A Volunteer Reception Center was initiated at Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security (FCEM&HS) by the Ohio Adjutant General's Department's Ohio Military Reserve to in-process volunteers from both FC CERT and the visiting CERT members for the exercise. Members from Seneca County CERT, Warren County / City of Mason CERT, Licking County CERT, Knox County CERT, Franklin County ARES, and Franklin County AUXCOMM represented their programs well and contributed in both leadership and support roles throughout the exercise.
FC CERT’s Logistics Section issued and tracked the required DA equipment to the Field Team Leaders. A DA just-in-time briefing / training was provided by the Operations / Resource Manager and the FC CERT Coordinator. The Operations Section Chief deployed six teams into the field and their progress was tracked in the FCEM&HS Assessment Center utilizing amateur radio capabilities, while the Exercise Controllers were utilizing the Multi-Agency Radio Communication System for real world emergency communications.
FCEM&HS's Deputy Director, Warning Manager, Operations / Resource Manager, and representatives from the Ohio Adjutant General’s Department (Ohio National Guard) observed the exercise from the FCEM&HS Assessment Center. They were available for such events as a real world emergency or contact with the media.
Cuyahoga CERT Programs Participate in Logistics Exercise
Serena Steele, Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management
On Wednesday, August 14th, the Cuyahoga County Office of Emergency Management (CCOEM), in partnership with the American Red Cross (ARC) conducted a Full-Scale Exercise: "Logistical Whirlwind". The exercise focused on response and recovery capabilities following a large-scale tornado incident. The training lasted around six hours and included nearly 30 organizations from local, state, and federal government as well as volunteer organizations.
28 CERT Members from 7 different CERT programs participated alongside 4x Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COADs) and more than 20 Emergency Support Function (ESF) agencies.
Over the course of the day, six locations were simultaneously activated: two commodity points of distribution, two Red Cross shelters, the County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), and the Red Cross Disaster Operations Center (DOC). All locations were built and managed with the intent of coordinating and providing for the basic needs of a community i.e. shelter, food, water, donations, etc., following the disaster. CCOEM and its partners created an outstanding simulation experience. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to public safety.
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CERT Curriculum Update
Josh Vittie, Ohio EMA - State CERT Coordinator
On Tuesday December 10th, 2019, FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness held a webinar to outline the updated CERT Curriculum.
Most of the topic areas will remain the same, though there will be some updates to how Disaster Medical Operations, Fire / Utility Control, and other sections are taught. The majority of changes will be moving towards current best practices, better aligning CERT with First Responder operations, and focusing on local considerations.
FEMA has indicated that the go-live date for the updated materials will be January 8th, 2020.
There will be a series of webinars throughout 2020 to bring current instructors up-to-date on the newest materials and all instructors are encouraged to download the new Instructor Guide (IG) after January 8th, 2020 and read it thoroughly. FEMA has indicated that a revision of the slides will not be sufficient, as the quantity of substantive information in the IG will be extensive.
 Ohio EMA to Roll Out Points of Distribution Training
Phil Johnson, Ohio EMA - Logistics Branch Chief
Ohio EMA is working to finalize a new "OH-series" training course to teach the fundamentals of Points of Distribution (PODs) to interested groups. The course is currently in draft, being circulated for review, and potential instructors will be trained in the coming months.
As of right now, we're planning to begin offering the course in 2020. Registration, like all Ohio EMA courses, will be through the Public Safety Training Campus. Programs interested in hosting a regional course should contact me at prjohnson@dps.ohio.gov
National CERT Association Newsletter Information Request
Suu-Va Tai, National CERT Association - President
[Ed. note: Please cc' the State CERT Coordinator at planning@dps.ohio.gov for awareness of articles submitted directly to the National CERT Association.]
The National CERT Association (https://nationalcert.org/) was recently formed to help support and promote CERT nationwide. One of the priorities of the NCA will be to collect and share information on CERT programs. Below are the current items of interest. If you have any questions regarding this request, please email us at info@nationalcert.org.
CERT Events
If your CERT program, region, or state is holding a special CERT event such as a training workshop, conference, preparedness event please share it with us (including a flyer if available)
CERT Deployments
Many CERT programs have deployed their CERT volunteers for local and statewide disasters. If you have deployed your CERT volunteers for an emergency or disaster response please share information on the deployment. Include information such as:
- Incident overview
- Number of volunteers deployed, deployment duration (from first volunteer deployed to last volunteer demobilized), total number of volunteer hours
- Tasks that the volunteers performed
- Any appreciation and/or acknowledgement of the deployment from local officials or community leaders
CERT Program Budgets
CERT programs that maintain a CERT volunteer cadre often utilize their volunteers to support their sponsoring organization as well as local community preparedness events. If your program has a report showing the cost of running the CERT program and the value returned (normally shown as volunteer hours given x local value of a volunteer hour), please share that report.
CERT in Emergency Plans
Many local jurisdictions have written CERT into their Emergency plan. This is a great validator of the value of CERT as a disaster response asset. If your CERT program is written into your Emergency Plan and you can share it please do so and include the page number where we can find your CERT program referenced.
Articles and Write-ups
Has your CERT program featured in any articles or videos? If so please share the link with us.
Anything Else?
If you can think of anything else worth sharing about your CERT program please share it.
Who will get this info and how will it be shared?
Any information sent as a response to this request will be shared with:
1 – NCA members working on CERT program activities such as newsletters and the NCA website
2 – FEMA ICPD – The NCA will filter the information and forward the best items to share with FEMA for their awareness and possible use in their newsletter.
Please submit all items to info@nationalcert.org and put “Newsletter” in the subject line along with your program name. Please be sure to include the contact information for the source of the material in case we need to follow up.
Thanks
Suu-Va Tai
Suuva.tai@caloes.ca.gov
916-524-3964
For More Information:
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CERT Curriculum Update
Kimberly Hayward, FEMA Region V - Community Preparedness Officer
Hello from Region V!
As many of you know, the CERT program is undergoing an update and should be available soon.
FEMA HQ informed me that any CERT trainings scheduled to take place before February should still plan to use the old materials. They have not given me an exact date on when the new materials will be available in the FEMA warehouse, but I will keep you posted as I learn of anything more specific.
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National Citizen Corps Support Discontinuation
Kimberly Hayward,FEMA Region V - Community Preparedness Officer
On December 6th, 2019, FEMA officially ended their management support of the Citizen Corps Program.
Since 2002, Citizen Corps Councils have contributed to the resilience of the communities that they serve. More than 1200 registered councils across the nation have produced Individual and Community Preparedness Award winners, FEMA Citizen Corps Achievement Award winners, and received numerous state and local service awards. These councils provide a framework for cooperation amongst local community organizations and national affiliate organizations to advance community preparedness and emergency response.
While state, local, tribal and territorial Citizen Corps programs can and should continue their outstanding efforts to create resilient communities, FEMA is no longer managing the Citizen Corps program at the national level. Whole community coalitions come in many forms and bear many names. The value of Citizen Corps always was, and will remain, in the hard work and efforts of council members and representatives at the state and community level.
This decision has no effect on partner programs such as FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team Program, or non-FEMA organizations such as Volunteers in Police Service, Fire Corps, or any of the many Citizen Corps Affiliate programs. Citizen Corps Councils, affiliates, partners, and members may continue to utilize FEMA’s preparedness programming and resources, including ordering resources from the FEMA publications warehouse, participating in local as well as national readiness exercises, and downloading all of FEMA’s preparedness products and guides available at www.ready.gov.
If you have further questions related to this message, you may contact FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division at FEMA-prepare@fema.dhs.gov
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