Cert - Hazard Management Cayman Islands
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
One of the mandates of HMCI is to increase the resilience of communities. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programme is one such tool the agency uses to achieve this mandate. These teams are established under the HMCI preparedness programme and have their authority, existence and procedures established through the Cayman Islands Hazard Management legislation (draft) and C.I. National Disaster Management Plan and sub plans.
Hazard Management Cayman Islands and the Cayman Islands Red Cross have now successfully trained and established a number of CERT teams including in North Side, North Sound Gardens Community, West Bay, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac and Savannah Meadows.
The Cayman Islands Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programme is strengthening community resilience through active community disaster risk management. The programme deals with community disaster preparedness, community response and community risk assessment. The transfer of essential skills to enable a community to prepare, respond and mitigate against hazards that they are vulnerable to is the foundation of the programme, hence it has an intense training component. This training entails basic disaster preparedness and response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and first aid / CPR. Community vulnerability analysis is also included. With the knowledge gained during the course, the community becomes more resilient to hazard occurrences. The CERTs are able to assist the community to prepare and protect itself from hazards and lessen the effects of disaster events.
These skills are vital to a community especially when the country is impacted by a devastating disaster event, such as Hurricane Ivan, and the emergency services are stretched and communities inaccessible. CERT training is designed to prepare the community to help itself, and also to build in self-sufficiency so the community can cope on its own resources for some period of time.
Training Programme Outline
The CERT Basic Training Course is designed to provide volunteers with the basic skills and information needed to be prepared for, and respond to, emergencies and disasters in the community. Upon successful completion of the course, participants receive a certificate verifying they completed the course. The volunteer group completing this training will be eligible to become registered with Hazard Management Cayman Islands as a bonafide CERT.
Community Emergency Response Teams: Gives an overview of the membership, roles and responsibilities of a CERT in preparedness and response for the community. The relevance of their function to the community is also illustrated.
Disaster Risk Management: Reviews basic disaster risk management concepts and approaches. This gives the participants a basic knowledge of the components of disaster risk management and its applicability to the community.
Community Disaster Preparedness and Planning: Participants learn how to develop a community disaster preparedness and response plan with the resources in the community.
Community Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA): Allows the participants to interact with the community at large to determine and identify the hazards and vulnerabilities present in the community. The team also considers the resources available in the community that adds to the capacity and strength of the community. These capacities can include many things including skill sets of residents, or assets such as vehicles or community buildings. They are any resources that may assist the community in its preparedness and response efforts. The outcome of conducting the VCA is that the community has an understanding of their disaster history and the strengths and vulnerabilities in the community.
Fire Safety and Suppression: Briefly covers fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards, and fire suppression strategies. However, the thrust of this session is the safe use of fire extinguishers, sizing up the situation, controlling utilities, and extinguishing a small fire.
Initial Damage Assessment: Participants learn how to assess levels of damage in their community and report the information to the wider National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC)
Light Search & Rescue: Participants learn about search and rescue planning, size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques, and most important, rescuer safety.
Stress Management and Psycho-Social Support: Focuses on the psychological impact of a disaster on rescuers and victims, and how to provide "psychological first aid" and steps one can take individually and as part of a CERT before, immediately following, and after a disaster.
CPR / First Aid / AED: Covers evaluating patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area, performing basic first aid, and practicing in a safe and sanitary manner. Participants practice diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock by using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques. CPR and AED training included.
Shelter Management: Participants learn shelter operations training
Responsibilities of a Cert
- Promote community awareness of potential hazards and preparedness measures
- Needs assessment (identifying special population and their needs)
- Serve as the main liaison for the community to HMCI
- Identification of potential hazards to the community and the residents
- Convene meetings to organize and coordinate procedures
- Assemble contact listing of resource personnel and equipment within the community.
- Assist with vulnerability and risk assessment for community
- Assist in the process of prioritization of needs
- Notification of event to HMCI, 911, RCIPS, CIFS and any other emergency services.
- Assist in the recruiting of volunteers from the community to participate in CERT Training
- Serve as a local response unit and as the main liaison for the community to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC)
- Assist in community search and rescue and evacuation
- Maintain contact with the NEOC and provide regular Situation Update reports.
- Facilitate and assist the district response mechanism through the dispatching of volunteers for Shelter Management, Initial Damage Assessment, First Aid, Basic Search and Rescue and post event activities to include Welfare distribution.
Course Overview
Purpose
The Cayman Islands Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programme is about strengthening community resilience through active community disaster risk management. The programme will deal with community disaster preparedness, community response and community risk assessment. The transfer of essential skills to enable a community to prepare, response and mitigate against hazards that they are vulnerable to is the foundation of the programme, hence it has an intense training component.
This training will entail basic disaster preparedness and response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. Community vulnerability analysis is also included.
With proper training, knowledge gained the community will become more resilient to hazard occurrences.
Unit 1 - Communities and Disasters
The participants will receive information about:
- The instructors, administrative personnel and other participants.
- Course logistics and details.
- The purpose, objectives and methodology of the course.
- Course agenda and exercises.
Unit 2 - Community Emergency Response Teams
Upon completion of this unit the participant will be able to:
- Define what is a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).
- What is the basic structure of the CERT.
- Administrative responsibilities of the CERT
- Operational activities of the CERT
- Identify how CERTs interrelate with the National Disaster Risk Management Office
Unit 3 - Disaster Risk Management
Upon completion of this unit the participant will be able to:
- Explain the concepts of hazard, vulnerability risk, adverse event, disaster, emergency, incident and development.
- Describe the concept of Risk Management.
- List the areas and components of Risk Management.
- List the hazards that affect the Cayman Islands
- Understand the characteristics of hazards.
- Effects of Hazards on the Community
Unit 4 - Community Disaster Preparedness and Planning and Community Emergency Response Teams Deployment
The participants will receive information about:
- Community Disaster Planning
- Creating Family Disaster Plan
- Assembling and Storing Survival Supplies
- CERTs Community Action
- Preparing for CERT deployment
- The National Emergency Operations Centre
Unit 5 - Vulnerability Capacity Assessment
The participants will receive information about:
- Assess risks and hazards facing communities and the capacities they have for dealing with them
- Involve communities, local authorities and humanitarian and development organizations in the assessment from the outset;
- Draw up action plans to prepare for and respond to the identified risks;
- Identify risk-reduction activities to prevent or lessen the effects of expected hazards, risks and vulnerabilities.
Unit 6 - Fire Safety and Utility Controls
In this unit you will learn about:
- Fire Chemistry: How fire occurs, classes of fire, and choosing the correct means to extinguish each type of fire.
- Fire and Utility Hazards: Potential fire and utility hazards in the home and workplace, and fire prevention strategies.
- CERT Sizeup: How to conduct the continual data-gathering and evaluation process at the scene of a disaster or emergency.
- Fire Sizeup Considerations: How to evaluate fires, assess firefighting resources, and determine a course of action.
- Portable Fire Extinguishers: Types of portable fire extinguishers and how to operate them.
- Fire Suppression Safety: How to decide if you should attempt to extinguish a fire; how to approach and extinguish a fire safely.
- Hazardous Materials: How to identify potentially dangerous materials in storage, in transit, and in your home.
Unit 7 - Light Search and Rescue Operations
In this unit you will learn about:
- Search and Rescue Sizeup: How to size up the situation in which the search and rescue teams will operate.
- Conducting Interior and Exterior Search Operations: How to search systematically for disaster victims.
- Conducting Rescue Operations: Safe techniques for lifting, leveraging, cribbing, and victim removal.
Unit 8 - Stress Management
In this unit you will learn about:
- An Overview of Stress Management in Disasters
- Psychological Responses to Traumatic Stressors
- A Basic Introduction to Counseling and Crisis Intervention
- Therapeutic Groups
- The Stress Management in Disasters Team
Unit 9 - Shelter Management
In this unit you will learn about:
- How to assist in an Emergency Shelter
Unit 10 - Initial Damage Assessment
On completion of this unit, participants will be able to:
- List the prerequisites for conducting a successful Initial Damage Assessment (IDA).
- List the types of pre-impact data that would be useful in conducting an IDA.
- State the factors that impact on the collection of reliable damage assessment data.
- Describe the seven-step process required to complete an IDA.
- List additional issues that may impact on IDA in the field.
- Describe the use of the Field Reference Guide in performing an Initial Damage Assessment.
- Distinguish between the five different levels of damage.
- Determine the level of damage to a building.
- Record damage assessment information in the field
