SCENARIO CALLED FOR CERT RESPONSE TO TORNADO STRIKE AT KATHERINE ANNE PORTER SCHOOL WITH NO ADVANCE PREPARATION

The first moment that CERT members responding to a “call out” to Katherine Anne Porter (KAP) School in Wimberley learned about their challenge was when they were briefed on the situation at the exercise start time of 9 a.m. in the school parking area.

Chief exercise coordinator and CERT Director Paul Elliott’s description of what the responders were facing was relatively brief, but posed a tough assignment. “You’re on your own,” he said. “An F-3 tornado has hit the area…all other available first responders are elsewhere taking care of tornado victims and we’ve been assigned to KAP with no backup expected for hours…”

The briefing continued: “Staff and students were evacuated from the school but the principal says there are 5 missing students.” He added that a quick assessment revealed “massive damage, broken glass and cries for help and that the school grounds were an area of concern where missing students may be located.” The missing students, he said, are all real - student volunteers – and that the role of the principal was being handled by new CERT member Cheryl Simecheck.

With that overview, the exercise was put in the hands of the 25 CERT responders with three Director evaluators – Dr. Bob Pierce and Lewis Smith along with Paul Elliott – looking for a “text-book” solution to the problem.

Setting the pace, there was a “by the book” Incident Commander selection sequence with the first member to report (one of our newest - Adrienne Evans-Stark) firmly taking the role by recording names of all arrivals, setting up the initial documentation, and establishing an ICP (outside and upwind of the building). Moments later, she turned over the IC responsibility to Director Mike Wilmore.

Then, accompanied by the wail of a school siren in the background, Wilmore set to work organizing his crews, sending out a size-up/assessment team, while setting up a medical section and search teams.

In the view of the evaluators, they did it all extremely well, with every injured student located) and evacuated to the medical team, all team members accounted for and the documentation completed within an hour of the start. There was one minor search mishap noted when a HAZARD-marked door was opened (but no one entered).

Following are the questions that were all answered in the affirmative by the evaluators:
Was the IC announced? Was there a change of command and announced? Was an ICP established and announced? Was a size up conducted? Were leadership roles assigned (and span of control considered)? Were teams established? Leaders assigned? Methods of documentation established? Assignments documented? Incident briefing held and documented? Was accountability maintained? Activity documented? Was search thorough? All victims located? Injuries handled appropriately?

In an “after-action” briefing in the school cafeteria, Paul Elliott (a veteran of thousands of incidents and score of disasters in leadership roles) reviewed each question in detail and responded to additional participant questions.

CERT participants in addition to those named above were: Rodger Parker, Kay Mayfield, Jon Blakistone, Gordon DeWitte, Kevin Wood, Spencer Altman, Charles Plassmann, Shirley Roberts, Bob Sheldon, Ron Kondoff, Ben Branam, Cathy Kubica, Karen Crowther, Rocky Wilson, Patti Barrett, Rev. Jim White, Dorothy David, Darrel DeLong and Sarah Geenberg.

Dr. Bob Pierce, an instructor at KAP, worked with the actual school principal Dr. Yana Bland and the staff for the use of the school and recruitment of student volunteers – all making for a very successful and realistic scenario.

IMPORTANT TEAM NEWS & INFORMATION

SAR TEAM special training session March 20th... Team Leader Roger Parker has set up a challenging and enjoyable training session.

It will take place at Rodger's ranch from 3:30 to about 8 p.m. on Sat., March 20. His entrance is at the dead end of "Hoots Holler" on the NE outskirts of Wimberley and will be well marked. You can find it on Google Maps, etc.

Plans include: discussion of emergency/survival kits, power point on wilderness searches, various search techniques including working with horseback and dog searchers), low angle rescue practical/hands-on experience, use of LED lights and use of the ISV in nighttime situations.

Experienced rescue instructor and Wimberley VFD Chief Carroll Czichos will be participating.

To wrap things up, Rodger is setting up a cookout complete with sausages, hotdogs, etc. to enjoy around a bonfire.

A "reminder"...As a follow up to the Jan.9 low angle rescue training session...be sure to check the website below for animated pointers in how to tie a few critical knots.

Try a few, practice them, and finally learn to tie them from memory. You'll be glad you did. The site is: www.animatedknots.com/indexrescue.php

FEMA Incident Command System courses required...All Hays Co. CERT members are expected to complete two on-line courses pertaining to the Incident Command System -- the system we will be working under at virtually all call-outs.

The many members who have completed the courses say each takes about 1-1/2 hours to complete. Access them at: http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/IS/crslist.asp. That will take you to the Emergency Management Institute course list. Scroll down the course list to the first required course: IS-100 (Introduction to the Incident Command System), then take IS-700 (National Incident Management System). It's recommended you download the course outlines which you can use to complete the quiz which you can also download. Any questions... and once you've finished a course, please contact Lewis Smith at: LSranch@verizon.net. In addition, Team Leaders are required to complete IS-200.

Severe weather CERT advisories... The best place to stay up to date on what's happening in the County is to check the County web site (http://www.co.hays.tx.us)and click on the Office of Emergency Management tab on the home page. Call out standbys and actions will continue to be communicated through Team Leaders.

Volunteers are needed. For more information, please click here to email CERT.