Brent Hailpern

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Saratoga CERT March 2018 Newsletter

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The Saratoga CERT leadership would like to ask for some assistance with folks stepping up and help lead this organization. Absolutely no experience or years of membership is required. We’re not asking for much; just need the next person or two to assist with some of the meetings and planning. Since there is an active leadership team, no one will be over-committed.

Trailer

We are looking for helpers to help build out our new CERT trailer the week of March 19th. Please contact info@saratogacert.org to volunteer.

March Meeting

Saratoga CERT’s next membership meeting will be on March 22nd at 5pm. Details, agenda, and RSVP will be available at http://saratogacert.org/event/saratoga-cert-membership-meeting-march/

Blossom Festival

Saratoga CERT will have a table at the Saratoga Blossom Festival on March 24th from 10am – 4pm at the Heritage Orchard on Fruitvale Avenue. Volunteers should plan on a 10am to 1pm shift or a 1pm to 4pm (or the end of clean up) shift. The Orchard is beautiful this time of year and all of your friends and neighbors will probably be at the event. Sign up for a shift! Jeff is coordinating the scheduling and can be reached evenings and this weekend at:  info@saratogacert.org

Ham Cram

The next Ham Cram class in Los Gatos will be held on March 31st. Details at https://sites.google.com/site/lgmsar/monthly-membership-meeting/our-classes

Continuing Ed

City of Santa Clara CERT is offering a continuing education class on “Crush Syndrome and Bleeding Control” on April 3rd and again on April 14th. A few places will be available to CERTs, like us, outside their city. Details/reservations available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cert-continuing-education-crush-syndrome-and-bleeding-control-tickets-44084021495

Moulage Workshop

Save the date – Santa Clara County is planning a “Moulage Workshop” for CERT members on May 12th for about 6 hours. Details should be available in April.

No More Automatic Activation

We need to remind everyone about the end of the “automatic activation” in the event of a 6.5 earthquake. All activations will be specific and targeted. You WILL be notified if needed! We do not want spontaneous volunteers, including CERT members, to self-activate. As the City updates its Emergency Operations Plan, the roles of the CERT organization will be included (likely in the form of a Concept of Operations). Just like your radio… stay tuned.

Trailer – again!

And again…we REALLY need to find a crew to help build the shelves and storage system in our beautiful new CERT trailer…
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Saratoga CERT February 2018 Newsletter

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2018 is off and running at Saratoga CERT!

On January 25th we had our 2018 kickoff meeting with more than 30 members. You can find the draft minutes on our website – but the bottom line is that we have leaders appointed for only 3 of our divisions:
  • COX: Reshu Jain (people) and Tom Baker (logistics)
  • QUITO/WEST VALLEY: Raji Lukkoor & Jessica Fullmer (people) and Zachary North (logistics)
  • HIGH SCHOOL: Jeff Pangborn (people) and William Brooks (logistics)
We are still looking for leaders (people and logistics) for the Downtown Division – if you are interested please contact Jeff via info@saratogacert.org
Our full Saratoga meeting for February has been cancelled, but the new Divisions will each have their own local meeting during the month. The regular Saratoga membership meeting will return in March.

Saratoga Blossom Festival

Roberta Friedman will be leading the Saratoga CERT participation at the Saratoga Blossom Festival on March 24th – if interested in helping out, please contact her via info@saratogacert.org.

FEMA Courses

Per a request at the January meeting our “Resources” web page at now has a section on introductory (independent study) Federal Emergency Management Agency Courses and videos, along with pointers to material from the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

Volunteers Needed

Mineta San Jose International Airport is looking for adult volunteers to participate in their Full Scale Exercise on 21 March 2018 from 0800-1200. Red Cross was asked to recruit approximately 40 volunteers. You do not have to be a Red Cross volunteer. You may share the information with family, friends and coworkers, but they must be at least 18years old and sign a waiver. Information on who to contact is on the flyer. LAST DAY TO RSVP IS 7 MARCH – details are available online.

Minutes Saratoga CERT Meeting – 25 January 2018 [DRAFT]

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Meeting called to order at 5:05 pm

  • News: Michael has 2 new grandchildren – congratulations!
  • Great turnout tonight!!
  • Handout: new Santa Clara County OES training schedule – will add to saratogacert.org website under “resources”.

Review of last year’s exercise

  • No report for county. We had some bottlenecks, but overall well done.
  • Attendance was small. Need to start planning earlier this year.

 

Divisions

We identified three main reasons to reboot divisions.

  • For individual CERT members – can rely on and learn from team members who live near you.
  • For the neighborhood – teams can plan and practice together with special attention to the needs of the neighborhood. Teams can also reach out to their local Neighborhood Watch unites.
  • For the city – gives EOC and Incident Command option of deploying us as individuals or as neighborhood teams.

Initially we asked for each division to identify two volunteers – 1 to coordinate people and one to coordinate logistics. Other roles will follow in the future as we get organized (like communications, training, outreach, etc)

  • COX: Reshu Jain (people) and Tom Baker (logistics)
  • DOWTOWN: no volunteers yet
  • QUITO/WEST VALLEY: Raji Lukkoor & Jessica Fullmer (people) and Zachary North (logistics)
  • HIGH SCHOOL: Jeff Pangborn (people) and William Brooks (logistics)

Each division group will hold their own division meeting in February (Jeff and/or Brent willing to attend if possible). Regular February meeting will be cancelled.

 

Leadership

We need to build out the leadership structure of Saratoga CERT. Beyond the division roles, we need help in:

  • Logistics & Generators: Tom Baker, Zachary North, William Brooks, Craig Pietron
  • Medical – led by Lori Stafford and Maggie Church
  • Communications – SARA hams: led by Don Steinbach, Morris Jones, Brent Hailpern
  • Community Outreach: Jessica Fullmer, Raji Lukkoor, Davina Morgan-Witts
  • Event Planning: Don Steinbach, Jessica Fullmer, Jeff (Pangborn? Walker?), Roberta Friedman
  • IT/Web/Communications: ?

 

Training Topics

  • Backpack
  • Communications
  • Medical
  • Rescue
  • Scenario-based activities
  • Triage practice
  • Post links to FEMA and other online courses

 

Blossom Festival planning to be led by Roberta Friedman

 

Question on whether to rotate meetings times – unanimously decided to stick with 5-7pm

 

Future meetings

February 22 meeting – TO BE CANCELLED

Each division will have their own organization meeting

Logistics committee will meet

 

March 22 meeting

Social introduction/review of division meetings

Hands on : Bag check

Vote on logistic recommendations

 

April 26 meeting

Business meeting

Hands on: Logistics/generator activity

 

Meeting adjourned at 7pm

 

Saratoga CERT January 2018 Newsletter

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Happy New Year from Saratoga CERT!
Please plan on attending the first CERT membership meeting of the year – January 25th from 5-7pm at the Saratoga Recreation Portable @ Joan Pisani Community Center – we really need everyone who wants to be active in Saratoga CERT this year to attend. Details, a full agenda when available, and RSVP link at https://goo.gl/X9Wdc3 – please let us know if you can come, or even if you cannot attend, but want to stay active in Saratoga CERT (two different RSVP links in calendar entry).
We are planning 3 main efforts for Saratoga CERT for 2018:
  1. Create and staff up the divisions we announced last year (http://saratogacert.org/map/) – with a goal that they each be ready to operate independently in our fall exercise.
  2. Fill our leadership positions for our overall CERT organization and for the divisions – and make sure that everyone is ready to respond in the case of an emergency.
  3. Run at least 5 refresher training sessions during the year – so that everyone can stay up to date.
We will address all 3 efforts at our January 25th, 5:00 to 7:00pm meeting – so PLEASE come so you can help make Saratoga CERT meet the needs of our community!
THANK YOU!

Saratoga CERT December 2017 Newsletter

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Best wishes for the Holidays and a healthy and safe New Year from Saratoga CERT.
Unfortunately, we must cancel our CERT Holiday Party, which was scheduled for Thursday, December 14th. However, please plan to start 2018 off right with a CERT division kickoff meeting on January 25th. Details of that meeting and our full 2018 calendar will follow in our January Newsletter.

Fire Extinguisher Recall

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The recall involves 134 models of Kidde fire extinguishers manufactured between January 1, 1973 and August 15, 2017, including some models that were previously recalled in March 2009 and in February 2015.
 
 
Summary: This product recall involves two styles of Kidde disposable fire extinguishers:
(1) Plastic handle fire extinguishers
(2) Plastic push-button fire extinguishers
This Recall does not include Kidde Professional or Badger branded fire extinguishers. Units with metal handles/valve assemblies are not included in the recall.
 

Saratoga CERT November 2017 Newsletter

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November Saratoga CERT Newsletter

Annual Drill Recap

We had a successful annual CERT drill in October with more than two dozen participants (see list below) plus a good number of volunteer mentors and observers from Saratoga CERT, SARA, Santa Clara County Fire, and Santa Clara County Office of Emergency Services. The participants did a thorough backpack update, practiced damage assessment, cribbing, FRS radio usage, medical triage, and medical transport. Thanks to everyone who participated!

New Members

We would also like to welcome into Saratoga CERT two recent graduates from the most recent CERT Academy: Roberta Friedman and Reshu Jain. Welcome Roberta and Reshu!

December Social

Our next CERT meeting will be on December 14th at 5pm – it will be our CERT HOLIDAY SOCIAL. If you would like to help organize/run it, please contact Jeff Walker at jjw408@pacbell.net ASAP – calendar entry: http://saratogacert.org/event/general-meeting-social/

Ham Cram

This Saturday, November 11th, will be the last Ham Cram Class of 2017 in Los Gatos. If you would like to get your Technician class ham license, please see the class flyer for details:  https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxsZ21zYXJ8Z3g6OWM3YzE2OTkxZjk5Zjhm

SCC Fire Refresher Training

Santa Clara County Fire will hold refresher training in Communication and Documentation on 11/14 in Saratoga. For details see: http://saratogacert.org/event/cert-refresher-training-communications-documentation-2/

DSW Cards

Please note! DSW cards will now be issued on Wednesdays between 2:00 and 4:00 in the City Planning Office. If you are RENEWING your card, simply send an email to Lori McKenna at lmckenna@saratoga.ca.us. She will renew your card and leave it at the front counter for you to pick up anytime. If you are a new DSW, stop by on Wednesdays between 2 and 4 and Lori will take your photo and prepare your card.

Planning for 2018

The 2018 Saratoga CERT calendar is under development. We will be getting together the 4th Thursday of each month, from 5:00 to 7:00pm. If you have any comments/suggestions, please contact Jeff Walker.

Staying UP TO DATE with Saratoga CERT

You can keep up to date at the
Saratoga CERT web page (http://saratogacert.org)
Saratoga CERT Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/certsaratoga/)

Attendees at 10/28/17 Annual CERT drill:

Tom Baker
Brent Hailpern
Morris Jones
Frank Mayer
Jeff Walker
Michael Taylor
Stephen Ng
Davina Morgan-Witts
Candace Brooks
William Brooks
Bryan Knysh
Maggie Church
Susan Schrader
Donna Dettrich
Jessica Fullmer
Dave Dornblaster
Ahmad Ghavi
Reggie Holt
Karen Burley
Jim Hwong
Wendy Lynn
Teri Jones
Darrell Ray
Kerry Harris
Lori Stafford

October update – A quick note from Michael Taylor

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Dear Fellow Saratoga CERT Volunteers,
We have an upcoming skills building event on October 28th, 2017. It will be held at the Saratoga Prospect Center (19848 Prospect Rd., Saratoga, CA 95070).
Please plan on attending from 9:00 AM through 12:30 PM.
There are a number of real benefits that come from participating in this exercise / skills refresher / team building event:
  • Practice some CERT skills with mentors available
  • Review your backpack contents and refresh missing items
  • Meet your fellow CERT volunteers and do some teambuilding
  • Re-vitalize our Saratoga CERT organization
We hope to have the City’s notification system alert all members to this event around 9:00 AM. Regardless of receiving this alert, please bring your backpack and plan on being at this event by 9:30 AM.
We would greatly appreciate your signing-up at this link:

Also – Please help support our neighbors:

Campbell CERT Wine and Cheese (& Silent Auction) Fundraiser
Sunday, November 5 from 3:30 to 6:00pm
Orchard CIty Banquet Hall – Campbell Community Center

Staying UP TO DATE

You can keep up to date at the
Saratoga CERT web page (http://saratogacert.org)
Saratoga CERT Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/certsaratoga/)
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