Virginians Need to Prepare for Hurricane Earl

FOR RELEASE AT WILL- Aug. 30, 2010

Virginians Need to Prepare for Hurricane Earl
Videos explaining storm surge, hurricane evacuation now online
RICHMOND, VA – Virginians need to prepare now for Hurricane Earl, which is forecasted to be a Category 3 or 4 hurricane as it approaches Virginia’s coast later this week.
The forecasted path for Earl has changed several times so it is important for Virginians, especially those living in the Hampton Roads region, to pay close attention to the storm. Those in Hampton Roads should review their evacuation and shelter plans. Also, people should make sure they have their emergency supplies ready.
"A small change in Earl's forecasted path could bring a major hurricane to Virginia," said Michael Cline, state coordinator for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. "Virginia state agencies are getting ready for the storm, and so should residents."
The Commonwealth has activated the Virginia Evacuation Coordination Team for Operational Response to assess Earl’s potential impact and to take necessary actions. The Virginia Emergency Operations Center is now at Increased Readiness Condition.
VDEM and the Virginia Department of Transportation have created a series of online videos to help families understand storm surge (the reason for large-scale evacuations), and how an evacuation would work. The videos are available at http://www.youtube.com/vaemergency.
A list of needed emergency supplies and maps of storm surge areas and evacuation routes can be found at http://www.ReadyVirginia.gov.

Presidential Proclamation--National Preparedness Month, 2010

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH, 2010
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
During National Preparedness Month, we stress the importance of strengthening the security and resiliency of our Nation through systematic preparation for the full range of hazards threatening the United States in the 21st century, including natural disasters, cyber attacks, pandemic disease, and acts of terrorism. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most tragic and destructive disasters in American history. In remembrance of this national tragedy, we must reaffirm our commitment to readiness and the necessity of preparedness.
By empowering Americans with information about the risks we face, we can all take concrete actions to protect ourselves, our families, our communities, and our country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Ready Campaign provides simple and practical steps every American can take to be better prepared. At the community level, Citizen Corps enables volunteers to contribute to homeland security efforts by educating, training, and coordinating local activities that help make us safer, better prepared, and more responsive during emergencies. I encourage all Americans to visit Ready.gov and CitizenCorps.gov for more information and resources on emergency preparedness, including how to prepare a family emergency plan, create an emergency supply kit, and get involved in community preparedness efforts.
My Administration has made emergency and disaster preparedness a top priority, and is dedicated to a comprehensive approach that relies upon the responsiveness and cooperation of government at all levels, the private and nonprofit sectors, and individual citizens. I also encourage Americans to get involved with the thousands of organizations in the National Preparedness Month Coalition, which will share preparedness information and hold preparedness events and activities across the United States. By strengthening citizen preparedness now, we can be ready when disaster strikes.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2010 as National Preparedness Month. I encourage all Americans to recognize the importance of preparedness and observe this month by working together to enhance our national security, resilience, and readiness.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.
BARACK OBAMA

Tip of the Week: Hurricane Season

Tip of the Week: Prepare for hurricane season. Make plans in advance to secure your home. Protect your windows by installing storm shutters or board up windows with plywood. For additional tips, fact sheets, and podcasts, see CDC's Hurricane Preparedness web site

Auxiliary Police Officer Program

Auxiliary Police Officer Program (Volunteer Opportunity with the Fairfax County Police Department)


Interested in assisting law enforcement officers? Do you have what it takes to meet the high standards to become an FCPD Auxiliary Police Officer? Learn more about the duties & rewards of becoming one of these essential volunteer officers.
Please click on the link below if interested in Learning more about the Auxiliary Police Officer Program:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/jobs/auxiliarypoliceofficer.htm

Hurricane Preparedness Tip of the Week

Tip of the Week: Since water may not be safe to use after the storm, make sure that you have bottled water, soap, and/or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer for proper sanitation and hygiene etiquette. For additional hurricane readiness information, see CDC's Hurricane Preparedness web site.
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SAVE THE DATE!!!

Operation Capitol Shield - October 13 & 14---Role playing & Operational (YAY!). Details coming soon!

CERT Train-the-Trainer

Note the close location ... one class is offered in Prince William County.

CERT Train-the-Trainer
This course is designed to prepare participants to institute a CERT program in their communities. Organizational topics to be briefly reviewed include: program planning, funding sources, recruiting, training, supervision, team member retention and legal concerns. Topics to be covered from the CERT course will include: disaster preparedness, fire suppression, first aid, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, teaching the adult learner and terrorism awareness. There will be a variety of hands-on practical exercises for certain topics.

Graduates of the Basic CERT train-the-trainer course are not qualified to teach Campus or Teen CERT classroom curriculum.

All of the following are required to participate in this course:

• Completion of the Basic CERT 20 hour classroom course
• IS 317 - Introduction to CERT
• IS 100.a – Introduction to Incident Command
• IS 200.a – ICS for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents
• IS 700.a – National Incident Management System (NIMS), An Introduction
• IS 800.b – National Response Framework, An Introduction

Two (2) letters of recommendation (one MUST come from local/state government or agency with whom the student is affiliated) This letter is not necessary if you have taken a previous CERT train-the-trainer course.

All items must be submitted in advance to: Lisa.Perry@vdem.virginia.gov

Dates	Location	Registration
Sep. 11, 2010 - Sep. 12, 2010 Registration Deadline: Sep. 01, 2010	Manassas	Online | EM pdf form
Sep. 24, 2010 - Sep. 25, 2010 Registration Deadline: Sep. 10, 2010	Gloucester County	Online | EM pdf form
Oct. 16, 2010 - Oct. 17, 2010 Registration Deadline: Oct. 04, 2010	Richmond	Online | EM pdf form
Oct. 22, 2010 - Oct. 23, 2010 Registration Deadline: Oct. 08, 2010	City of Bristol Online | EM pdf form

DHS opens National Dialogue on Preparedness

DHS is hosting a National Dialogue on Preparedness. The viewpoints gathered during the dialogue will supplement the mission and recommendations of the Local, State, Tribal and Federal Preparedness Task Force.

At the direction of Congress, the Task Force was formed in April to assess the state of disaster preparedness and make recommendations for improvement throughout the nation. DHS is now opening the discussion to include individuals from the private sector, non-governmental and volunteer organizations, additional governmental partners and the general public. The goal is to identify similarities and differences for how various organizations view preparedness issues. The Dialogue will be open through Aug. 31, and will allow individuals to propose ideas, vote on popular recommendations and tag discussion topics at http://preparedness.ideascale.com

Drawing upon their experience and expertise, as well as input from the Dialogue, the Task Force will produce a report of findings and recommendations for Congress in September 2010. More information on the Task Force is available at http://www.fema.gov/preparednesstaskforce

Fall CERT Basic classes announced

On September 25, CERT (1) Basic classes will be offered at the Mt. Vernon Governmental Center, 2511 Parker Lane, Alexandria. All county residents are encouraged to take advantage of this exciting and informative course. The 6 classes are held from 7pm-930pm starting on September 13 and ending October 25. A full scale exercise at the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Academy is optional, but highly encouraged, is on October 30. Topics discussed in the class are Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Medical, Search & Rescue, Terrorism, Disaster Psychology and Fire Suppression. This class instruction is low on physical impact, but we do some drills. CERT (1) Basic classes are available free to all citizens and is mobile. If you or your civic group is interested in learning more about this exciting class, contact Dana Powers at dana.powers@fairfaxcounty.gov.

CERT Animal Response I &II

Hello CERT trainers, coordinators, members and advocates,

The CERT National Program Office is pleased to announce the release of two new supplemental training modules, CERT Animal Response I and CERT Animal Response II. The new Animal Response modules are the first in a series of supplemental training modules building on the disaster response training that program participants receive in the CERT Basic Training course. The supplemental modules are designed to expand the skills of CERT members and teams, and to increase CERT’s ability to support emergency response professionals. The Animal Response modules, as well as other CERT supplemental training to be released in the future, are intended for those who have completed the basic training.

The Animal Response modules generally address pets, service animals, “for-profit” livestock, wildlife, exotic animals and non-commercial livestock such as horses. CERT Animal Response I (three hours) will teach CERT members emergency preparedness for animal owners, animal-related functions in emergency management and how to recognize specific animal behaviors.

CERT Animal Response II (four hours) will teach members their role in responding to animal issues and the skills needed when they encounter animals while performing their broader CERT response functions. As in all CERT training, these new supplemental modules also feature CERT responder safety.

The training materials for each module include an Instructor Guide, Participant Manual and PowerPoint file. CERT instructors may download the materials from the National CERT website. Please go to Training Materials on the CERT home page and then select CERT Supplemental Training, http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/training_downloads.shtm#animal.

We hope you enjoy the new CERT supplemental modules and that you find these additional training resources useful.

If you know of others who would be interested in receiving CERT updates, please have them subscribe at the following website: http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/subscribe.shtm.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to community resilience and to CERT!

Sincerely,

CERT National Program Office
Individual & Community Preparedness Division
Federal Emergency Management Agency
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CERT Refresher classes

Wednesday August 11, 2010 – Community events primer, Lifting / Cribbing, Command Post refresher
Thursday August 12, 2010 – Community events primer, Disaster First Aid, Lifts and Carries refresher
Wednesday August 18, 2010 – Community events primer, Scenario based drill
Thursday August 19, 2010 – Community events primer, Scenario based drill
Wednesday August 25, 2010 – Community events primer, Disaster First Aid, Lifts and Carries refresher
Thursday August 26, 2010 – Community events primer, Lifting / Cribbing, Command Post refresher

Remember that you only need to make one of these classes to stay current

Fall CERT 2 classes

We are offering two CERT 2 courses beginning in mid-September. I have
included the schedule for each class in this email. You must sign up
for one course either the Tuesday or Wednesday classes. However, if you
cannot attend one of the classes, you may make it up on the alternate
day. There is no charge for this training and there are no prerequisites
for these courses; they are open to all citizens who either live or work
in Fairfax County.

If you would like to sign up for one of these courses, please send me an
email and specify which class you would like to attend. Also, please
fill out the attached information spreadsheet and return to me in the
email. All classes will be held at the Fire and Rescue Academy located
at 4600 West Ox Road, Fairfax, VA. Classes begin at 7:00 pm and run until
about 10:30 pm .

CERT 47 - Tuesdays

9/14 Intro
9/21 ICS
9/28 Safety
10/5 Triage
10/12 Disaster Medical
10/19 S&R
10/26 Scenarios


CERT 48 - Wednesdays

9/15 Intro
9/22 ICS
9/29 Safety
10/6 Triage
10/13 Disaster Medical
10/20 S&R
10/27 Scenarios

Final Exercise 10/30

Jeffrey F. Katz
Volunteer Liaison
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
703-246-3926

VDEM Training survey assesses needs

VDEM’s Office of Training and Exercises is conducting a survey to determine long-term training needs and to make improvements to the program. The short survey is open to the emergency management community and the general public from July 14 to Aug. 14. If you are interested in participating, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y8L9JGG.