No one likes to think about it, much less talk about it.
It won't happen to me/here. Yet, we all know at some level we will have some large scale disaster in the West Orange County area. We have all heard that it will be 3 to 7 days before our first responders will be able to come to our aid. We know...
And yet, we are not really ready to protect our family members. We don't know what to do when there is a water main break or a gas line rupture. We don't have food and water plans in place. We may not even know basic first aid or the most common injury following an earthquake.
It's human nature. Call it denial, machismo or anything else you'd like. But ask yourself are you really ready?
On July 12 & 13 and July 19 & 20, our West Orange County CERT program is putting on a 20 hour FEMA based training that will help you get prepared to protect yourself and your family. And they do a pretty good job of making it fun (you even get to use a fire extinguisher to put out real fires). And it's at the Joint Forces Base - so it's close to home.
The CERT Academy covers basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members are better able to assist their family, neighborhood and/or workplace following an event when first responders (paramedics, fire, police) are not immediately available to help.
If not now, when will you at least learn about what you need to know to keep your family safe. Yes, it will take some time out of your busy schedule. But when disaster strikes, and it will at least you'll be more ready to recover...it's that worth a few hours?
Hope to see you on July 12th at JFTB.
