Emergency Response Team Volunteers Brave Morning Storm for Preparedness Drill

Residents in approximately 1,500 homes along the coast in the Half Moon Bay area came home Thursday night to find emergency response packets attached to their doors, thanks to the efforts of 50 volunteers who braved stormy conditions yesterday morning to spread the word about safety on the coast.

As part of the fifth annual Silver Dragon San Mateo County Bio-Terrorism exercise , members of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) organized at the on Main Street early this morning and then ventured out to provide information on emergency procedures door to door.

Focusing mainly on homes lying west of Highway 1, teams of two to five people hit the streets despite heavy downpours, flood watches, high wind and surf advisories and the threat of a thunderstorm. As CERT coordinator Mark Chidester said, the day’s storm provided a prime example of the kind of conditions these emergency volunteers may face during an actual disaster.

“We’ve got to get out there, rain or shine,” he told volunteers during a morning briefing.

According to Chidester, CERT members are community volunteers who undergo six to eight weeks of training to become certified in emergency maneuvers, such as search and rescue, CPR and first aid. When disasters strike, these volunteers will go out into the community alongside MRC members (volunteer doctors and nurses) to give aid where needed.

“We’re community support for the regular responders,” Chidester explained. “They’re going to be extremely busy in an emergency, so we help organize communities and take responsibility for the neighborhoods.”

He explained that CERT members are trained to identify victims of disaster that need medical attention and then help them get to tents where MRC volunteers can then administer aid.

Sponsored by the San Mateo County Health Department, Thursday’s exercise helped distribute information on how to respond to various disasters, from earthquakes and fires to bio-terrorism attacks. Chidester explained that volunteers were paying special attention to those living closest to the coast because of their vulnerability to tsunamis. This year’s packets included special brochures on tsunami response - especially timely, given March 11's voluntary evacuation order of low-lying areas given by the county the morning the tsunami (triggered by the earthquake in Japan) was projected to hit local shores.

Volunteers equipped with HAM and family radios canvassed the coast from around El Granada south to the Moonridge housing complex just outside Half Moon Bay. Countywide, volunteers aimed to reach approximately 10,000 homes, according to San Mateo County Health Department spokesperson Jana Cranmer.

Cranmer explained that the exercise not only serves to get crucial emergency response information out to the public, but also to test the current response system in place among county responders and volunteers.

“This is intended to simulate how we would run in a crisis situation,” she said. “It tests our ability to communicate with volunteers and other cities in the event we would need to deliver aid and medicine in a time sensitive situation.”

While rain soaked their clothes, it did not appear to dampen the spirits of the many volunteers who distributed informational packets.

“I think it’s great,” CERT volunteer Hossein Ordoubadian said, while running to tie packets to doorknobs. “We’ve become a bit complacent, so this is a great exercise.”

Cranmer agreed that the volunteers were what drove the morning effort.

“I felt the spirit of the people was a huge thing given the rain and circumstances,” she said.