Updates | West Orange County CERT (Community Emergency Response Team for Western Orange County California)

August Team Training – In Person No Less!

What a great training and meeting!

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it. The turnout was great. It was so nice to see friends and faces that we have missed over the past few years. The pizza was plentiful and delicious. Thanks to SBPD for hosting and the pizza and to Barbara Flack for the drinks. The turnout was terrific, and it was great getting back together.

Chief Gonshak welcomed the Team back after nearly a three-year hiatus. briefed the Team on the department updates, including the new Crops with Cops Garden at the station and the department’s fantastic social media program headed up by Sgt Jordan Mirakian. If you don’t already follow SBPD on social media, you owe it to yourself to take a look (Facebook & Instagram). Funny, informative, enlightening, addicting – in a good way.

Sgt Mirakian also shared that the SBPD will be holding DUI Checkpoints again in the coming months in Seal Beach. This is good news for those of us who enjoy assisting with these community education events.

A huge thank you goes out to Robin Fairman who arranged for Seal Beach Marine Safety Office Mike Diller to share about the Seal Beach Lifeguard and Marine Safety programs, water safety, rip currents (remember, there’s no such thing as a rip tide), and how to treat sting ray stings. It was a great presentation and we all learned a bit about the ocean, water safety and all that lifeguards do.

In addition to sting ray stings hurt so try to avoid them, the one big take away was, any time you are at the beach, and you have a question, “ask a lifeguard!”

Hope to see you at our upcoming events.

2022 CERT Academy – In Person This Fall

We have an ACADEMY!

After all the starts and (mostly) stops, we have finally been cleared to hold our interactive, hands-on Academy at the end of September at the Joint Forces Training Center (JFTB) in Los Alamitos.

Our Academy is based on the FEMA approved course work and includes fire suppression (yes, you get to use a fire extinguisher to put out a real fire), basic first aid and wound dressing, light search and rescue techniques (the kind you’d need to help your family in an earthquake) and disaster psychology.

The 20-hour Academy runs from 6:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. on Fridays 9/30 & 10/7 and from 8:00-5:00 on Saturday 10/1 & 10/8. All four days are required to complete the course. Lunches are provided on both Saturdays.

Here’s the application and details on the event. It’s a great course and you will learn a lot about how to protect yourself and your family when disaster comes your way.

Start 2022 Off Right!

NOTE: Due to the increasing spread rates of the Omicron Covid Variant, the January Academy has been postponed. While disappointing, it is the safety of our participants and staff that has to come first.

We will update this site as more information becomes available.

Our Team has (finally) been cleared to hold our interactive, hands-on Academy at the end of January at the Joint Forces Training Center (JFTB) in Los Alamitos.

This Academy is FEMA approved and includes fire suppression (yes, you get to use a fire extinguisher to put out a real fire), basic first aid and wound dressing, light search and rescue techniques (the kind you’d need to help your family in an earthquake) and disaster psychology.

The 20-hour Academy runs from 6:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m. on Friday 1/21 and 1/28 and from 8:00-5:00 on Saturday 1/22 and 1/29. All four days are required to complete the course. Lunches are provided on both Saturdays.

Here’s the application and details on the event. It’s a great course and you will learn a lot about how to protect yourself and your family when disaster comes your way.