Civilian Teams Ready to Help in Emergencies

When the earth shakes, the emergencies that follow can overwhelm the professionals.

So then it may be time for the amateurs to roll up their sleeves.

Following the 1987 Whittier earthquake, the Los Angeles Fire Department began training civilians to help out in emergencies, particularly earthquakes.

So when when pleas for help outstripped the department’s resources in the 1994 Northridge quake, civilian graduates of the Community Emergency Response Team program--CERT for short--proved their worth.

The graduates put out small fires before they could spread, pulled injured persons from damaged buildings and gave them first aid, said Firefighter Stacy Gerlich, one of the instructors.

Based in Sherman Oaks, the CERT program has eight firefighters who train teams of civilians in how to control the beginning stages of emergencies before calling the Fire Department.

“Any time [community members] can do something for themselves, it helps us,” said Capt. David Yost. “We may not get to them for hours or days during an earthquake.”

Today, about 11,000 trained Los Angeles residents can be found in about 290 teams scattered throughout the city, according to department statistics.

Now, more than ever, well-trained residents are needed to lighten the city Fire Department’s workload when the anticipated “Big One” strikes, Gerlich said.

The eight CERT instructors are divided into the south and the north teams.

The south team teaches in West, South and East Los Angeles while the north team gives its lessons in the San Fernando Valley.

The civilian teams are put together by businesses, homeowner associations or other groups who can gather a minimum of 25 trainees, Gerlich said. Trainees must be at least 18.

The classes consist of seven two-hour sessions.

The instructors teach the volunteers California geology and earthquake awareness, fire suppression, medical aid, light search and rescue operations and team organization management.

Trainees are taught about the threat of earthquakes and how to take pre-quake precautions.

Fire classes cover fire chemistry, how fires spread and firefighting techniques.

Medical training includes how to distinguish life-threatening situations from nonemergency cases, how to do a head-to-toe evaluation of an injured person and how to treat nonlife-threatening emergencies, like splinting a broken leg, Gerlich said.

Search and rescue training teaches trainees to inspect a building for safety before entering to save a trapped person.

Students learn how to organize an emergency response unit that can go to work independently of the Fire Department, including designating a gathering place in the neighborhood or workplace, electing a team leader and organizing regular meetings.

The climax of training is a disaster simulation in which participants’ new skills are tested, to show how they would respond to a real emergency.

After that, the civilian team meets with Fire Department personnel only every two months for two-hour refresher sessions, Gerlich said.

The program has not only increased the city’s disaster readiness, but has provided graduates with emergency skills that they can use in other crises in day-to-day life, Gerlich said.

CERT can be reached at (818) 756-9674.