Next meeting Wednesday, May 16, 6:30pm

Transcription

1 Next meeting Wednesday, May 16, 6:30pm IN ATTENDANCE Elaine Baker, Teri Bloebaum, Ernie Bonacum, Ron Bunch, Shirlie Burriston, Ron Costanzo, Jim Fico, Sherrie Fico, Peg Gardner, Mike Hendershot, Ben Hornstein, Irving Lee, Larry Loomer, Christine Louder, Jane Mailander, Marge Munger, Dave Pittman, Kathleen Pritchard, Marilyn Ragan, Gina Scheer, Rod Scheer, Mark Shepherd, Todd Simpson, Ann Stokes, Bob Worsham, Dorothy Zoilko Rod Scheer began the meeting at 6:32pm. He welcomed all in attendance and introductions were made around the room. Rod also asked if someone in the group would be willing to take the task on of recording the meeting minutes for this group. Peg Gardner advised that she has been doing this for nearly two years and would like to pass this task on. After a brief discussion it became evident that no one was willing to take minutes tonight, or to volunteer for the future. Minutes Review Prior meeting The minutes were not sent in out advance and will be reviewed at our next meeting. CERT Coordinator Margaret Romiti (Management) by Rod Scheer Margaret is training tonight and cannot attend our meeting. Rod reported that the state CERT received a grant and made purchases of backpacks, gloves, hats/ helmets, knee pads, and vests. They are allowing the CERT groups to order a maximum of 50 each per year and Concord has already received some for the next basic CERT classes. OPERATIONS Rod Scheer The basic CERT class drill will be held on Saturday, May 12 from 8am to 5pm. Five hours is anticipated for this drill but we want to be sure that it all goes smoothly so plan to stay until the drill is complete. Breakfast will be provided and The Salvation Army will provide and serve the lunch. All CERT graduates are invited to participate in the drill and to practice their skills. Please Gina if you will be joining so that we can include you in the meal counts. Rod also needs victims he requires a minimum of 14 for this event. He will also be asking Teri to include the drill details and requirements in the first of the month Depiction Rich Veal (by Teri Bloebaum) This information was read out of sequence by Teri Bloebaum after the copier finally cooperated with producing the meeting minutes. The actual timing is reflected further into the minutes. The CPD VIPS (and CERT) laptop has been updated to the latest version of Depiction, (1.3.3). Using this version, a depiction was created of a newly formed area with the help of the new CERT Captain. After the depiction was created on the laptop it Submitted by Peg Gardner Page 1 of 4

2 was tested and showed all information regarding each location that had been entered. The test appeared very promising as a viable organizational and deployment tool. We then loaded the Depiction reader on the Captains computer and sent the file to her as a further test of usability. This is where things went sideways. Using the free Depiction reader, points were misplaced, data could not be retrieved and it was deemed an overall failure. Conclusion Currently Depiction can be a valuable tool for identifying members and resources but only when used on a computer with the full Depiction program loaded on it. This is a major setback if the intended use was to send depictions to the area captains who would be using the Depiction reader to view results. A final note of interest is that there will only be one more upgrade in this series (v1.4). It should be noted that the v1.4 upgrade will reintroduce the 30 day un-crippled trial period. After this release, v2 and later will not be upgradeable but will require the purchase of a full version including all add-on packs. For reporting accuracy, Depiction is better suited under Planning and Intelligence per ICS guidelines not Operations. PLANNING / INTELLIGENCE Peg Gardner Peg thanked all in attendance for their participation in the March-31 Brookview Park Drill. She advised that the documentation is still being analyzed but overall the drill was a huge success, in spite of the rain. The participants demonstrated that they could practice safely (100% accident free), and effectively mark doors to expedite the efforts of secondary Search and Rescue Teams (estimated as 95% complete). The status of the Medical unit is undetermined as the documents have not yet been reviewed. Following a brief review of the communication details it is estimated to be roughly 90% accurate, the most obvious omission being the absence of anyone stating (or scribing) this is a drill. Some of the group responded that indeed they had stated this is a drill and had assumed that writing it down was unnecessary, it was a given fact. Ron Bunch responded that it is critical to document all words, regardless of what may be perceived as being known by all. The habit of scribing full documentation of all that is said over the air will be very important following a disaster. 1. Animal Information Carmen Estrada (no report) LOGISTICS Gina Scheer Gina asked for volunteers to sign tonight to assist in the staffing of the Saturday, May-12 class drill. The drill will be for two classes, the 31-people who completed the Thursday night class sessions and the 16-people who will complete the Tuesday night class sessions. Submitted by Peg Gardner Page 2 of 4

3 In addition Gina announced that there are two upcoming outreach opportunities where CERT volunteers will be needed to help staff the information booths: Todos Santos Plaza Summer Music Series Music and Market Thursdays 6:30pm to 8pm May 31, 2012 through September 13, Saturday June 30th, 2012 is The Salvation Army open house and Couch Potato Relay celebrating their Community Partners. They have invited over 35 community organizations to be on display from 10am to 3pm. The goal is to increase awareness of the community s volunteer opportunities as well as display services and emergency equipment currently available to respond as needed Training Gina Scheer The next sessions for the Basic CERT class will be held on three consecutive Saturdays beginning September-9. This class will have their graduation drill on Saturday, November 3, Remember, for all the Basic and the Continuing Education CERT classes, it s easy to sign up by just sending an to Concord.CA.CERT@gmail.com. Please feel free to share this address to encourage anyone who might want to sign up. The next Continuing Education Classes are scheduled as: FRS (Family Radio Service) NTC-MYN (Neighborhood Team Captain, Map Your Neighborhood) CERT Animal Modules Saturday May 19, am to 1pm Tuesday, May 22, :30 to 9:30pm Saturday June 2, am to 4pm 2. Communications Tom Kramer (by Teri Bloebaum) Teri wanted to advise the group of a Ham Cram course scheduled for Saturday, May-12 in Richmond. For further information check the East Bay Amateur Radio Club (EBARC) in Richmond, California Teri asked if Larry Loomer could provide any other details about the Ham Radio classes. Larry offered that there will also be a Ham Cram course scheduled for Saturday, April-21 at the LDS church, 1590 Denkinger Road in Concord beginning at 8am with the testing beginning at 1pm. Other radio classes are: Year 2012 Ham Radio Classes: Send an to HamRadioClass@gmail.com Tech License (beginning level), begins Thursday 3/22/ :00 pm (7 weeks) Submitted by Peg Gardner Page 3 of 4

4 General License (mid-level), wait until the 2013 schedule Extra License (top level), begins Wednesday 3/28/ :00 pm (6-weeks) Possessing a Ham Radio License opens up a whole new world of communication. It s a tremendous help in the event of a disaster in addition to the opportunity to meet new people over-the-air and in-person for many events. CARES (Concord Auxiliary Radio Emergency Service) under the umbrella of the Concord VIPS is an opportunity to be of even greater assistance in a disaster. So consider it! ADMINISTRATION / FINANCE Teri Bloebaum (no report) Teri said that she had received an about The American Cancer Society Relay For Life in Concord scheduled for Saturday, July 7 through to Sunday, July 8 at Concord High School. She would like to know if the CERT Working Group would be willing to produce a relay team to walk the 24-hour event. In addition Teri would like to have the CERTs perform first aid at this 24-hour event and is anyone interested? No one spoke up to volunteer. Teri passed out copies of the March 21 Working Group Meeting minutes and explained that she had experienced a copier challenge and apologized for the delay in not having the minutes prior to the meeting. She advised that the March 21 Working Group Meeting minutes were somewhat faulty as they failed to include the Depiction 1.4 Report from Rich Veal. Elaine Baker suggested that Rich s the Depiction 1.4 Report actually occurred at the CERT Leadership Group Meeting and not the Working Group meeting. Ron Bunch reviewed his personal meeting notes from his laptop and advised that Rich Veal had not attended the Working Group meeting so in fact there was no error in excluding them from the March 21 minutes. Rod Scheer then asked how Teri wished to proceed, was she asking that the March-21 minutes in our hands be amended to include this information that had not been shared with the group or was she asking that they be included in the April-18 minutes now being scribed. Teri said that she would probably append them next month after she has more clarity. She then sat down and read the details shown in these minutes under the heading 1. Depiction Rich Veal (by Teri Bloebaum). Elaine Baker made a motion to amend the minutes to include Teri s new reading and it was seconded by Ron Costanzo. ROUNDTABLE Ron Costanzo asked that the spelling of his name be corrected to Costanzo, NOT Costanza. Mike Hendershot met with the managers at The Crossings and he is planning to do an article on CERT. Mike plans to attend the NTC-MYN (Neighborhood Team Captain, Map Your Neighborhood) Training with Ron Costanzo. They have defined the Neighborhood Watch individuals as well as the CERTs to be contacted and they also plan to politically interface (by wine tasting) with the Cowell Homeowners Association Board of Directors. Submitted by Peg Gardner Page 4 of 4

5 Mike would like to test FRS communications in and around the cul-de-sacs. Peg Gardner asked if they might consider an FRS/ HAM event in the June-July timeframe so that our CERTs could gather, assist, and practice communications. Christine Louder confirmed that Crystal Ranch holds their weekly communications drills at 8am on Saturdays so is might be wise for us to start The Crossings exercise after Crystal Ranch completed their weekly drill. Many present at the meeting indicated they would be willing to participate in a 9am-11am stand at each corner type of event. Ernie Bonacum shared that his wife Cheryl Lundstrom is currently reading the Depiction (mapping) software manual. Shirlie Burriston wants to do a city drill in Roundtree but feels that Margaret Romiti may need to attend a Homeowners Association meeting to help them coax the Board into participating. Shirlie believes it will take time to get this accomplished. Teri Bloebaum reminded us that the 29-th Annual National Night Out is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7, 2012 ( however Dana Estates will be holding it on a Wednesday (either 6 days early or 1 day late). She then confirmed with Dave Pittman that he successfully demonstrated FRS radio last year. NOTE: National Night Out has proven to be an effective, inexpensive, and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships in our fight for a safer nation. Rod Scheer adjourned the meeting at 7:25pm. Next meeting Wednesday, May 18, 6:30pm Submitted by Peg Gardner Page 5 of 4