1 ORANGE SPIEL ⢠April - May 2012 - Home | Orange County Gov FL
1 ORANGE SPIEL ⢠April - May 2012 - Home | Orange County Gov FL
1 ORANGE SPIEL ⢠April - May 2012 - Home | Orange County Gov FL
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Working Together for Safety<br />
Volunteer for<br />
Community Emergency Response Training<br />
By Cherie Boyce, Office of Emergency Management<br />
When a disaster happens, it is usually neighbors or<br />
co-workers that respond the quickest. For this<br />
reason, the <strong>Orange</strong> <strong>County</strong> Office of Emergency<br />
Management (OEM) provides community emergency response<br />
training as a service to groups of ten or more people of all ages.<br />
Two requisites for training are that the volunteers know each<br />
other and live in <strong>Orange</strong> <strong>County</strong>. A team can be a faith-based<br />
group, a business of ten or more employees, a neighborhood<br />
association, or a school group.<br />
Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) give critical<br />
support until first responders arrive on scene. CERT members<br />
train and work in groups to provide immediate assistance<br />
to victims. They are taught how to identify potential volunteers,<br />
then organize and lead these additional volunteers.<br />
CERT training is free to <strong>Orange</strong> <strong>County</strong> residents. The<br />
only requirement is that groups of neighbors or small business<br />
employees sign up together, train together and work together<br />
in teams.<br />
Cindy Clark of the Sheriff’s Dispatch<br />
reminds CERT volunteers to “stay on<br />
the line” whenever they call 911.<br />
CERT Instructor<br />
Cindy Clark Voted #1<br />
<strong>Orange</strong> <strong>County</strong> Sheriff’s<br />
Communications Supervisor<br />
Cindy Clark is recognized<br />
by her students<br />
as the “most popular”<br />
Community Emergency<br />
Response Team (CERT)<br />
instructor.<br />
For the annual Advanced<br />
Leadership CERT<br />
training, Cindy made her<br />
presentation come to life<br />
by adding recordings of<br />
911 messages, educational videos, and a lot of humor. And<br />
since the training was held inside the Emergency Operations<br />
Center at Fire Headquarters, she gave students a rare tour of<br />
the Sheriff’s side of the 911 Dispatchers Area.<br />
By experiencing emergency calls from a dispatcher’s perspective,<br />
CERT team leaders will be better equipped to train their<br />
citizen volunteers to “stay on the line and be patient while their<br />
dispatcher asks a series of detailed questions.”<br />
Thanks to Cindy Clark for taking <strong>Orange</strong> <strong>County</strong> CERT leaders<br />
into the real world of the Sheriff’s 911 Dispatch.<br />
Above: CERT volunteers<br />
practice safety skills.<br />
Right: OEM Manager<br />
Dave Freeman<br />
(center) demonstrates<br />
proper technique<br />
for approaching and<br />
retreating from a fire.<br />
FOUR Great Reasons<br />
to Become a CERT Volunteer<br />
1. Community<br />
• becomes stronger and more resilient to disasters<br />
• has a lower crime rate<br />
• increases interest in maintaining property values<br />
2. Education<br />
• know what to do to prevent making<br />
situations worse<br />
3. Recreation<br />
• have fun<br />
• share team humor<br />
4. Togetherness<br />
• match names with faces in your neighborhood<br />
• get to know co-workers<br />
• strengthen family connections<br />
Interested in becoming a CERT volunteer?<br />
Call the Office of Emergency Management at 407 836-9140 or email ocoem@ocfl.net<br />
10 <strong>ORANGE</strong> <strong>SPIEL</strong> • <strong>April</strong> - <strong>May</strong> <strong>2012</strong>
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