Wednesday, September 06, 2006

I am going to be a NERT

No, No, not NERD (I already am one of those) but I have started the training to be on my Neighborhood Emergency Response Team. The program grew out of the chaos in the Marina District here in San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake struck. There were so many people willing to help and the SF Fire Department recognized that. Out of that tragedy the SF NERT was launched. This program to train residents to know what to do to take care of themselves and their families and subsequently go out into their local areas and aid others. Over the course of six three hour sessions, we will learn:

•How to prepare before it happens
•What to do when the earth starts to shake
•Basic Disaster Skills
•Natural gas, water and electrical controls, why, when and how to shut them off
•Types of fire, and using extinguishers to put it out
•Hazardous Materials awareness in the home, on the road, and all around you
•Disaster Medicine
•Health considerations for the rescuer
•Opening airways
•Stopping bleeding and shock position
•S.T.A.R.T. triage
•Minor injuries and burns
•Light Search and Rescue
•Different types of construction and where to look for damage
•How to classify damaged buildings
•Building marking system
•Interior search patterns
•Lifting heavy objects and mechanical advantage
•Victim carries
•Team Organization and Management
•City Disaster Plan and where the NERTs fit
•NERT Incident Command System, managing the disaster
•Disaster Psychology
•Terrorism and NERT
•Extinguishing fires
•Triaging and treating moulaged victims
•Extricating a victim trapped by heavy timbers
•Interior search for reported missing persons
•Exterior building damage assessment

Wow, that's a ton. But the coolest thing is that upon completing the course, I will receive my own yellow hardhat that identifies me as a NERT. I'm a NERT.