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Coming Together
Disasters have shown us that there is an immediate need for a variety of support systems and resources after any major emergency or disaster. What we also know is that local governments do not maintain an extensive and diverse stockpile of resources to meet these needs. Recognizing this, the City of San Rafael, the American Red Cross, and the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership, have joined together to lead the enhancement of the Marin Interagency Disaster Coalition (MIDC). The MIDC is focused on bringing together the tremendous amount of resources and support systems and matching them to those in need immediately following any major event. The MIDC is recognized as the vehicle in Marin County for
coordinating private-sector, non-profit & community-based organizations, and government sector resources serving human and animal needs following a disaster.
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Did You Know...
That the San Rafael Fire Department has on average only 23 staff on-duty at any one time. These professionals provide emergency services to a residential poulation of over 56,000 people and a daytime average over 100,000. It goes without mention that these limited resources will be extremely overwhelmed during any major emergency. Now that you know the facts, it should be a little more obvious the importance that you get prepared now! The capabilities of our professional first responders are exemplary, but the limited amount of them only reinforces the need for you to be trained, prepared, and self-sufficient. Sign-up now for the next
Get Ready or CERT training. |
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City of San Rafael
Office of
Emergency Services
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 485-3111
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 Recent Events
Most of us have seen the images of the recent tragedies in China and Myammar which combined have taken the lives of over 100,000 people. Many of these images are not new to us but serve to reinforce our need to be prepared and self-sufficient. Most of you are probably feeling adequately prepared already for whatever could happen. Nevertheless, you should take a minute to think about the images you have seen and measure your own capabilities to cope in similar siutations. For more information or to support the releif efforts visit the American Red Cross website. |
 Trim it Up, Toss it Out! Summer isn't officially here, but things are heating things up and it's a good time to think about vegetation management practices to create a safer home. Take a look at your yard. Any combustible dry brush or dead vegetation that needs a good trim? Why not do a little spring cleaning and create some fuel breaks in your yard now, making defensible space before it's too late. There are simple things you can do to create a safer environment and a safer home. The big bonus: it could very well save your home. More information on San Rafael's Vegetation Management Program can be found here. | |
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CERT: Step it Up a Notch
If you check out our community emergency preparedness training calendar we've added a bit to it recently. Several opportunities for advanced CERT trainings are available to you if you've taken a DART/CERT course. The goal of providing advanced trainings is to continually develop and enhance our residents' skills and capabilities.
CERT Refresher: The refresher course will provide previous CERT graduates an opportunity to once again review the hands-on skills learned during the CERT Basic course. Students will review fire safety and suppression, triage, disaster medical operations, search & rescue, and victim extrication. Very limited classroom curriculum will be offered as the class is primarily focused on refreshing practical skills
Advanced Courses: Includes Leadership, Advanced First Aid, Shelter Management Training, CERT Radio, Disaster Simulations, and CERT Organization.
Please be sure to visit our website at www.sroes.org to sign up for trainings. If there's a topic that you don't see a training listed for, let us know and we'll look into developing that training for our CERT members. |
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Como se dice Get Ready Marin en Espanol?
How do you say Get Ready in Spanish? Preparese Marin!
San Rafael is launching the Get Ready household preparedness training in Spanish this summer. We've translated the PowerPoint, had the manuals translated and are now looking to build a core volunteer staff that is interested in helping us take the message to our Spanish speaking residents in San Rafael. If you're interested in becoming an instructor please contact Angela at sanrafaelprepare@cityofsanrafael.org.
Upcoming trainings can be found online on our Community Emergency Preparedness Training Calendar.
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 E-Tip: Thumbs Up for Hands-Only CPRThe American Heart Association (AHA) asserts that hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be done in an emergency situation, even by people who have no training in the technique. Published in many medical journals in early April, this method does not rule out mouth-to-mouth breathing as part of CPR, but if you're afraid to lock lips with a stranger - then don't. But DO start the chest compressions. It's very important to keep the oxygenated blood left in the body circulated to the vital organs. Press as hard as you can and as often as you can.
The new recommendation for hands-only CPR is an update to 2005 AHA guidelines, which said bystanders should use compression-only CPR if they were unwilling or unable to provide breaths. It's still best to have CPR done in the conventional way by medical personnel trained in the technique. The new recommendation applies only to bystanders who come to the aid of adult cardiac arrest victims outside a hospital setting.
The new guidelines apply only to adult victims shortly after they collapse and have no pulse. They do not apply to children or drowning victims. For more information: http://handsonlycpr.eisenberginc.com/resources.htmlArticle details compiled from SFGate and HealthyDay News. |
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Spring CERT Course in Action Again As we enter our third week of our spring session the size-up is another enthusiastic class committed to learning how to take care of themselves and their neighborhoods during the time of an emergency or disaster. Something new we're trying this time around is that we're working in teams throughout the session and creating a topical CERT organization exercise into every module. Something that the students are really taking to.
We had so many people interested in taking our spring session of CERT we could have held two classes - if we only had a bigger classroom! The success of the Get Ready trainings are what has led to so many people contacting our office wanting to take their training to the next level with CERT. And as we have seen with recent events, it further stresses our need to be prepared and trained to help our neighbors in the time of need. Summer and fall session dates have been posted on our website. Hope to see you in a class soon.
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