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

West Orange County CERT serves the Western Orange County CA communities of Seal Beach, Cypress, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, La Palma, Buena Park, and Westminster,

Calendar

August 4, 2020

  • NNO Westminster

August 12, 2020

  • CERT Team Training Session & Potluck

    This is our bi-monthly team training and pot-luck meeting. All members are welcome to attend to refresh your CERT skills, get Team updates and enjoy some really good food.


    Location:   Location rotates, please see member email for details

September 26, 2020

  • Downey Emergncy Fair

October 14, 2020

  • CERT Team Training Session & Potluck

    This is our bi-monthly team training and pot-luck meeting. All members are welcome to attend to refresh your CERT skills, get Team updates and enjoy some really good food.


    Location:   Location rotates, please see member email for details

December 9, 2020

  • CERT Team Training Session & Potluck

    This is our bi-monthly team training and pot-luck meeting. All members are welcome to attend to refresh your CERT skills, get Team updates and enjoy some really good food.


    Location:   Location rotates, please see member email for details

KeepOC Safe: If you See something Say Something
Neighbor 4 Neighbor® – Seal Beach @ Schooner Park

Neighbor 4 Neighbor® – Seal Beach @ Schooner Park

Neighbor 4 Neighbor The neighbors along Schooner Way in Seal Beach got together for a Neighbor 4 Neighbor® event on Saturday 10/27/2018 and had a terrific turn out. Jeannie Dennison and a team of block captains arranged the event in the park along Schooner Way. The day was primarily for the neighbors to get out and meet each other so in case of an emergency or disaster they would have nearby people to lend a hand to help and to help keep an eye on things everyday.

The Program is supported by the Seal Beach Police Department, the Orange County Fire Authority, West Orange County CERT, the City of Seal Beach, and the SVPD Volunteers in Policing (VIPS). Loree Erpelding  from Neighbor 4 Neighbor and Corporal Julia Clasby from Seal Beach PD helped to coordinate the event.

It was a very nice day at the park with neighbors sharing food and stories, and most importantly, building relationships.

 

About  Neighbor 4 Neighbor®

The Neighbor 4 Neighbor®  Program is designed to help neighbors become better connected, pool resources, work together to reduce neighborhood crime, look out for each other in times of need, and band together to withstand and recover from both natural and personal disasters. More information about the program can be found on the  Neighbor 4 Neighbor® website at https://Neighbor4Neighbor.org

Vet Fundraiser – Cypress Women’s Club & Patriotic Service Dog Foundation

Vet Fundraiser – Cypress Women’s Club & Patriotic Service Dog Foundation

HELP RAISE MONEY TO SUPPORT OUR INJURED VETS!

Patriotic Service Dog Foundation - 22 to Zero
Patriotic Service Dog Foundation – 22 to Zero

The Woman’s Club of Cypress is creating a delicious recipe cookbook and 50% of the profits from its sales will be donated help our injured Vets through the Patriotic Service Dog Foundation. The other 50% goes to college scholarships and other charitable donations. This fundraiser helps to cover cookbook production costs, so more profit can go to the foundation, scholarships, and charities.

The fundraiser is Tuesday October 23rd at Hof’s Hut in Los Alamitos. If you’d like to support the fundraiser, please print the flyer below and show it to your server on 10/23 and 15% of your bill will go to the Club’s cookbook project. And please share this information with your friends.

This fundraising event is valid for dine-in, take-out & bakery purchases – so you can just stop by and bring something home for you family ans still support our Vets!

 

Get The Flyer Here

Patriotic Service Dog Foundation – 22 to Zero

Each day, in the world’s greatest nation, 22 of our heroes will take their own lives.  The Patriotic Service Dog Foundation’s goal is to reduce that statistic from “22 to Zero”

More on the Foundation can be found here and on their website 

October Team Meeting – Tasty Food, Recognition & Skills Tune Up

October Team Meeting – Tasty Food, Recognition & Skills Tune Up

Our October Team meeting was held at the Cypress Community Center and did we have a great turnout – WOW!

More than 40 Team members brought a large assortment of store bought and home made food items: salads, chicken, pizza, macaroni casserole and enough desserts to feed an army of locust. Nicely done Team!

After Loree Erpelding (Cypress) welcomed us to the Cypress Community Center, we had time to catch up and share stories with CERT members both new and more seasoned. The “business” part of the meeting kicked off with recognition of those members with 10 or more years of service with our Team.  Willie Ortega, who is a member of the La Palma Trailer Team was recognized for his 11 years of service to our communities.

The members of the CMAP class we held this past weekend received their CMAP patch and most of them will be moving from B Level up to A Level which means they can be activated for emergencies county-wide when they are available. (Unlike the military, if an activation does not fit your schedule, you are not obligated to go, being a Level A member just makes you eligible to be deployed).

Before Ed Fleming (La Palma) started the night’s training, the Team members that helped out at National Night Out back in August received letters of thanks from the Cypress Police Department.

Our skills refresher was on triage and how to rapidly determine how critical an injured person is and how to initially classify them for treatment and care. Each of the more than 200 paper dolls had a condition listed on the back and team members were asked to make a determination of which classification best applied to the person.  There was a lot of discussion and when all the “cases” were classified, Ed did a spot review of them. The hands on following the review of START and RPM was well received and was found helpful by the members.

Julia Clasby (Seal Beach) then reviewed our upcoming events and opportunities to serve. Highlight events are the Seal Beach Christmas Parade on Friday December 7th and our December Team Meeting on Wednesday December 12th at the Seal Beach Police Department.

To close the meeting, there is a fundraiser by the Woman’s Club of Cypress. They are creating a cookbook, with 50% of the profits from sales will be donated to
the Patriotic Service Dog Foundation. The other 50% goes to college scholarships and other charitable donations. This fundraiser helps to cover cookbook production costs, so more profit can go to the foundation, scholarships, and charities.

The fundraiser is Tuesday October 23rd at Hoff Hut in Los Alamitos. If you’d like to support the fundraiser, please print the flyer here and show it to your server on 10/23 and 15% of your bill will go to the Club’s cookbook project. And please share this information with your friends.

CMAP Class – 6 New Candidates for Level A

CMAP Class – 6 New Candidates for Level A

Orange County CMAP ClassOur initial CMAP class for West Orange County CERT was a complete success, This class was based on the updated July 2018 CERT Mutual Aid Program materials released by Orange County CMAP, and it produced 6 new WOCC Level A candidates.

A huge thanks to our class facilitators Kris Moskowitz, Michelle Hosejsi, Art Remnet from WOCC and Ed Kane and Steve Ciolek from Cypress RACES for putting on a quality class. The class would not have happened with out the ongoing support of Loree Erpelding, Julia Clasby, Ed Fleming, and Dave Atkins. We also want to thank the Cypress Police Department for use of their training classroom.

Our 6 new Level A candidates are Hermie Asido, Michelle Charland, Barbara Flack, Karla Padilla, Lance Smith, and Tom Woodward. 

Congratulations to each of you!

October 2018 CMAP Class

CERT Booth at Leisure World Expo Day

CERT Booth at Leisure World Expo Day

West County CERT- 2018 Leisure World Expo
West Orange County CERT- 2018
Leisure World Expo

It was a warm day at the Leisure World Expo last Saturday (9/15) and the Expo was very well attended.

At the West Orange County CERT booth we were busy with visitors and answered numerous questions about safety, preparedness and how they could get trained. Nearly 20 people signed up to be notified of our next CERT Academy which will likely be in March 2019. If you are interested in being notified, you can sign up yourself up for the notification here.

The CERT Trailer looks spectacular (thanks Ray and Dave) and we had a good crew to cover the day (And then again, when don’t we have a good crew?)

The Leisure World Expo was another good day for the Team. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

 

 

West Orange County CERT at the  Leisure World Expo

 

CERT Academy Graduates – August 2018

CERT Academy Graduates – August 2018

Congratulations to the latest class from the West Orange County CERT Academy
Congratulations to the August 2018 class from the West Orange County CERT Academy

Congratulations and a warm welcome to the 60 new CERT Academy graduates and thank each of you for showing up and digging in to the weekend. We all learned a lot and had some fun and met some new friends while we were at it.
And a HUGE thanks to all the CERT Members who met and planned in the days and weeks before the Academy helped make this terrific event possible and then during the four days at JFTB, Los Alamitos. The Team came out in force over the entire weekend to support the Academy and made it one of the best we have held.

The registration team lead by Jeanette Vella did a terrific job of getting the attendees to the Academy, checked in and out, and all the other administrative tasks needed to keep the records straight. Our Team instructors, Kris Moscowitz, Ed Fleming, and our dynamic physician team of Dr. Michell Ryan and Dr. Joe Horejsi who held pre-academy meetings to ensure the CERT Members helping with medical portions of the Academy were all on the same page and knew the high points to cover.

The Seal Beach Trailer Team lead by Ray Vella and Dave Atkins were there to support the Academy each day and the La Palma Trailer Team of Kris Moscowitz and Willie Ortega were on scene to assist with the final exercise. Of course, the Team shutter bugs Pat and Roberta O’Toole along with Art Remnet were snapping away. How does that go, if it isn’t recorded, it didn’t happen?

And it all starts with our coordinators Ed Fleming, Julia Clasby, Loree Erpelding, Ellen Lopez, Dan Brandt, and Aaron France who pulled together the facilities, logistics, and resources we needed. And we tip our hats and give thanks to the outside experts who shared their insights with the Academy: JFTB/Los Alamitos Fire; Robert Acosta, OCFA; OCFA Buena Park; the CARE EMTs (both Saturdays), Dr. Heather Williams, OCSD; and Josh Goldmark, OCIAC. And we appreciate the assistance of the JFTB command staff who allowed us to use their facilities.

In support and appreciation of the CERT program, each of the six cities comprising West County CERT was on hand to congratulate our latest Academy Graduates: Chief Rod Cox, Cypress; Chief Terry Kim, La Palma; Asst City Manager Buena Park Aaron France; Sgt Mike Henderson, Seal Beach; Sgt Kain Gallaugher, Los Alamitos; and Chief Ralph Ornelas, Westminster.

And to make our final exercise possible, the make-up artistry and skills of Marie Sorenson and the willing victims/actors Explorers from Seal Beach, Buena Park, and Orange were amazing.

The August 2018 CERT Academy Graduates

Congratulations to the August 2018 Graduating Class from the West Orange County CERT Academy
Congratulations August 2018 Graduates!

If you are interested in joining one of our upcoming CERT Academy programs or just want to find out more about CERT in your area, please let us know. You can find out more about the CERT Academy here or sign up for our CERT Academy notification list here.
 

 

 

 

 

Please note: the danger in thanking people by name is someone always gets left out. We appreciate everyone who helped make this Academy so terrific. If your name should have been listed, please accept our apologies.

CERT Academy – August 2018 – Weekend #2

CERT Academy – August 2018 – Weekend #2

On the second weekend we start off with a always great pot-luck dinner with the class and then dive into both disaster psychology and how CERT responds to terrorism (hint: report what you see happening and then leave the terrorist activity to the professionals) with some tips on how to keep yourself and family safe.

West county CERT Academy
Two Weeks is the New 3 Days

Then Saturday morning we review what we have covered so far, get a good feel for how ICS works, run through an ICS exercise, and then start planning for the afternoon exercise where we use the skills we’ve acquired over the past 4 days to use in a disaster scenario.

One of the big take aways from the morning presentations is that “2 weeks is the new 3 days” when it comes to how long you need to be prepared to survive before “first responders” can provide assistance. You and your neighborhood are the first line of defense when it comes to post-disaster survival.

 

CERT Academy – August 2018, Weekend #1

CERT Academy – August 2018, Weekend #1

CERT Academy - RegistrationThe first weekend of our August CERT Academy went very well with more than 60 participants taking part. If you have been watching our West County CERT Facebook group, you would have seen some near live updates from both Friday and Saturday. Check out the the fun photos from Friday evening and Saturday below.

Upcoming CERT Academy

If you are interested in participating in this top of the line CERT Academy, please get yourself on the notification list for our next course.

The Friday evening of our first weekend provides the basic background surrounding disaster preparedness and the core elements of the CERT Program: safety (self, family, and people nearby), teamwork, and your place in overall community emergency operations plan followed by some fun team building activities.

Our first Saturday kicks off with fire safety and one of the highlights for most CERT Academy participants, using a fire extinguisher to put out an actual fire. The fire safety section is followed by an afternoon of medical care training and hands on practice. It’s a busy day for the CERT Academy attendees.

 

We will be back next week with an update on the second weekend of the Academy.

 

Thanks to OCFA Truck 61 from Buena Park for stopping by to assist our search and rescue training and to the CARE EMTs who assisted in our medical training.

CERT Academy thanks OCFA Truck 61 from Buena Park for showing us the search and rescue techniques.
Thanks to OCFA Truck 61 from Buena Park for showing us the search and rescue techniques.
CERT Academy thanks CARE Ambulance for the medical training assist
Thanks to CARE Ambulance for the medical training assist
West County CERT Meeting – August 2018

West County CERT Meeting – August 2018

Det. Josh Goldmark briefs West County CERT members on OCIAC
Det. Josh Goldmark briefs West County CERT members on OCIAC

La Palma played host to the West CERT meeting in August and as usual, the City was terrific.

After catching up with Team Members and sampling from a delicious set of food items, we had a terrific Team meeting on the evening pf August 8th.

After being welcomed by the City of La Palma Police Chief  Terry Kim and  Chet Corbin, we were briefed with an enlightening presentation about  the Orange County Intelligence Assessment Center or OCIAC by Detective Josh Goldmark. Orange County has one of the 79 recognized “Fusion Centers” in the United States and we were fortunate to have Josh share a bit about what these centers do and how we can help them to keep us safe. You can find more information about OCIAC here

Following the presentation, Loree Erpelding presented thank you letters to those Team members who assisted at the Cypress Community Festival and gave a special “thank you” to Jeanette Vella for all she has done and continues to do as Admin Lead for the Team.

Watch your email for the upcoming CERT Academy’s Availability Sheet. We will need help both weekends.

And a big thank you to the City of La Palma for hosting us this month.