Meeting Minutes Posted

Meeting minutes for our January all-team meeting have been posted to the Meeting Minutes page.  Also check the Activities page for the latest updates of our 2012 events.

Unwrapped- Emergency Food Bars

Back in December of 2010 I wrote about some Datrex emergency food bars (white package) that had reached the end of their shelf life. I had cut one open and it did not look all that appetizing, with an oily appearance and smelling of coconut.

Well last month, I had some other emergency rations expire that I cut open to inspect.  This one is the “ER Bar” and the package describes a lemon vanilla flavor.  We were pleased that it looked very edible and smelled and tasted like a thick shortbread cookie.  The package calls this a three-day food supply for one adult.

I had actually planned to bring an ER Bar to the January CERT meeting for a mass tasting but forgot.  Maybe next time.
Do you have an adequate supply of emergency food?

First All-Team Meeting of 2012

Well the first CERT meeting of 2012 has come and gone.  This was the first All-Team meeting with members of Redwood City, San Carlos and Belmont working together to help Christy chart our future course.  Meeting minutes will be available here in a few days.

FEMA Campaign to Get Americans Ready in 2012

As 2011 – one of the most active years for disasters in recent history – comes to a close and Americans get ready to ring in a new year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is encouraging all Americans to Get Ready in the new year by making a resolution to be prepared for emergencies.

As a recent report by the National Climatic Data Center highlights, 2011 has seen more billion-dollar natural disasters than any year on record. This year alone, the U.S. experienced its first hurricane landfall since 2008, the most deadly series of tornadoes since the 1950s, significant earthquakes and severe flooding – hazards that impacted every region of the country. All of these events have served as important reminders that disasters can strike anytime, anywhere, and being prepared is one of the most effective things we can do to protect our homes, businesses and loved ones. Today, FEMA kicked off its annual campaign, Resolve to Get Ready in 2012, which urges Americans to make preparedness a priority by making a new year’s resolution to be ready for disasters and getting survival kits.

“One of the most important lessons we can take away from this year is that disasters can impact all of us, no matter what part of the country we live in,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.  “While we can’t control where or when they might hit, we can take steps in advance to prepare for them – efforts that can go a long way toward protecting our families, homes and business. Resolving to be Ready in 2012 could be the most important pledge you make this year.”

By making a resolution to take a few simple steps in advance, Americans can minimize the impact of an emergency on their families, homes or businesses.  To take the pledge, visit www.ready.gov/resolve which includes free information, checklists, and guidelines about how to put together survival kits, make a plan, and stay informed.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Train Your Family

Make sure that all of your family members (of responsible age) know where your home gas meter (or propane shut-off valve) and electrical panel are located and how to shut them off in case of an emergency.  Such actions may prevent a secondary fire in your home following events such as an earthquake, flood or ice storm.  Also, review emergency shut-down procedures for appliances/equipment that run on fuel supplies to your home like furnaces, hot water heaters, gas fireplaces, boilers, etc.  You should also know where and how to shut off your water main in order to stop a leak in your home or as a means of preventing contaminated water from entering your home. Get a comprehensive disaster supplies checklist FREE to help you plan.

This information has been provided for our CERT group’s use courtesy of GetReadyGear

Skills Day Rehearsal for Feb CERT Class

Our next CERT class is scheduled for February; please see the attached flyer for the days, dates, times and location.  Feel free to share it with your neighbors, friends, family and contacts.  

With the changes to the Fire Department structure, we will now be holding lecture portion of our CERT classes at Station 13 in San Carlos and we will be utilizing Station 9 in Redwood City for the “Hands On Skills” portion.  This may change in the future… we’ll see what works best for everyone.

To help in preparing for the upcoming CERT class, I would like to bring the Skills Day Assistants in for a dry run at Station 9.  We will meet in the morning, tour the station interior and exterior, gather together as a group in the training room, discuss where and how we want to set the skill-stations up, set up and test equipment.  This will be a new location, so as a group we can layout how we would like the stations set up and how we will run them. 

Please go to the Activities page for more details.

New CERT Signage

Ordered a new banner and a lawn sign to start the new year with. Look for the new lawn sign next week at our new meeting location. The new generic CERT banner will be used for local community events.

Blog’s 3rd Anniversary

This month marks the 3rd anniversary of this blog and this is the 300th posting!  I have enjoyed creating and maintaining this blog for our CERT community and look forward to doing so in the future.  It has been interesting to see the feedback and see how this blog has reached out beyond our neighborhood.  The blog has readers on the East Coast as well as in Canada!
With all the information that has been made available, please remember that the search box is very helpful for finding those older posts.

Happy New Year and be prepared for whatever life and Mother Nature has in store for us!

Cupertino’s “Ready 95014″ iPhone/iPad App

The city of Cupertino launched “Ready 95014” , a new iPhone and iPad app that puts safety information into the hands of Cupertino residents. Steps to prepare and respond to emergencies are outlined in an easy to understand format and include earthquake, flood, fire and pandemic. The app also shares information about the best methods to give and receive information during a disaster. These include Cupertino’s own AM radio station that streams live from the app, and a map of the City’s Area Resource Centers, satellite locations opened after disasters to provide public assistance.  Various preparedness videos are also included in the app.

This is a neat idea that needs to be explored for San Mateo County.

January CERT Meeting Details Posted

Our first All Teams meeting has been scheduled for January 10th and details have been posted to the Activities page.  We hope you will be able to join us. For those of you unable to attend, meeting minutes will be available approximately 2 weeks after the meeting.