By Iris Ng (Class of 2021)

Two members of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program came to the IITBT building on three Saturday mornings of March 14th, 21st, and 28th to train sixteen excited students on disaster survival and rescue skills. Thus, they can organize and help the community during unexpected incidents before the first responders arrive. The course covered topics on Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety and Utility Controls, Disaster Medical Operations, Light Search and Reuse Operations, CERT organization, Disaster Psychology, and Terrorism.

We learned how to extinguish small fires with a household fire extinguisher, to tell which fire extinguishers are for certain types of fires, and were given our first Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which is our personal first aid kit that include gauze, latex gloves, cut-proof gloves, and N-69 mask.

We also learned how to organize ourselves and work together as a team by following the CERT’s size up system to investigate the scene. We were also trained under the scenario of mass casualties, when we have to perform a process called triage which is labelling the victims if they are immediate, delayed, minor or morgue and we have to sort the victims thus the first responders can tend to the victims immediately. Additionally, the students also learned about the three different ways of carrying a wounded person to safety, given the situation.

One of the most important concept we learned in this training is to put pressure on bleeding wounds as it is the most beneficial way to stop further bleeding or damage even if it means to stick your finger into the wound.

The amount of concepts and information that we learned in the training would reach the ceiling if we list them all. It was a meaningful experience for many of us as it was our first time learning these useful information. Additionally, the training helped build confidence in us, to know the importance of keeping calm, and to “do the greatest for the greatest amount of people.”

This workshop was hosted by North Coast Opportunity (NCO) of Ukiah.

Photography: Thuy Nguyen and Rachel Blythe (Class of 2022)