Mountain Disaster Preparedness CERT group educates for personal and community safety

In March the Town Crier presented an interview with Mike Feyder, the president of Mountain Disaster Preparedness (MDP), the first in a series profiling the different working groups within MDP. This week we share a conversation with Ron Sabala, who is director of the group’s CERT program, the Community Emergency Response Team.

CERT groups help a community in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, Sabala explained. “First responders may be overwhelmed initially after an event. CERT bridges that gap.”

Sabala oversees the monthly training that FEMA mandates for CERT members. Idyllwild Fire Protection District is the sponsoring agency that allows MDP.s CERT group FEMA certification. “They proved training and facilities that allow us to be part of the program.” The basic training takes about 20 hours and is offered twice a year in Idyllwild. The county Emergency Management Department also conducts these classes at other locations in surrounding cities. Some of these classes are taught by medical professionals or first responders, and they follow a national curriculum. “The basic CERT program covers subjects including disaster preparation, fire safety and suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, CERT organization, disaster psychology, and terrorism.”

Sabala explains that the search and rescue is not the kind of high-country activity that groups like the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit do but may be as simple as knocking on doors and checking in on neighbors. “In an emergency, when first responders don’t have the manpower to get to everyone, CERT teams will go out. It can be as simple as seeing if there are any victims in houses, trapped by a bookcase that fell. They wouldn’t enter a house that is dangerous to the team. That is the number one rule, don’t become part of the problem or situation.”

Training in disaster psychology prepares team members to stay calm in an emergency and help calm victims and bystanders. A unit on terrorism is even included to complete the training. “It’s not that we respond as an organization, but anyone may be caught up in that kind of situation.” Feyder points out that the training is focused on taking care of yourself, family, friends and neighbors. “Once all that is checked out, team members can go to and support the community.”

Sabala points out that the CERT training emphasizes personal responsibility. “One of main premises of the training is your personal disaster preparedness and education to prevent and mitigate. In any community, but especially in one like Idyllwild that can be isolated and prone to evacuation, you can be trapped in areas you can’t easily get out of. Everyone should have a minimum three days of disaster supplies. These must be pre-positioned. You won’t have time to collect medicine, food, and water for daily survival. Your supplies should be in multiple locations. You may not be able to get to your house to get supplies. Maybe a box at work. Something in the trunk of your car. A trash can with tools and survival supplies can be kept in an outbuilding near your home “

Another basic preparation Sabala recommends is going to ricvoready.org to sign up for address-specific emergency notifications. He also pointed out that MDP’s website is also a source for timely, reliable local information during emergencies.

Sabala says that he sees two kinds of people at CERT training: “First, there are those who want to educate themselves to prepare their families. These you may not see after the courses finished, but we know that they can help themselves and their neighbors. The second group is those who want to be part of our team, to be activated to help first responders in the event of an emergency, to provide additional manpower as needed. Those are the ones we see at meetings, where they get additional training to reinforce what they learned initially.”

Ron works full time for the San Gorgonio Council of the Girl Scouts of the USA and has been site manager for Skyland Ranch since 2011. Before that, he worked for the L.A. Council. “Just prior to coming up I had taken CERT training through L.A. County Fire. I was a Forest Service Volunteer Ranger with Angeles National Forest for six years. When I came up here, I became involved with MDP. Mike Feyder asked me to help rebuild the CERT program.”

Next month we will talk with Robert Hewitt, MDP’s director of Radio Communications.

Sign up for alerts from the County Emergency Management Department at rivcoready.org. Visit MDP’s website at mdpidyllwild.org and follow their Facebook feed at facebook.com/MDP.Idyllwild. To learn more about MDP’s CERT program call Ron Sabala at (626) 484 6364.