More than 18 years have passed since the Loma Prieta earthquake,
and the memory of the disaster has faded for many, but there are
others in the South County who are very much awake to the
possibility of a similar disaster and are preparing.
Morgan Hill – More than 18 years have passed since the Loma Prieta earthquake, and the memory of the disaster has faded for many, but there are others in the South County who are very much awake to the possibility of a similar disaster and are preparing.
Morgan Hill’s Office of Emergency Services is teaming up with Gilroy’s OES and Santa Clara County to offer regional Community Emergency Response Team training to South County residents. Thirty openings are available for residents of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
Classes will focus on natural disaster situations such as flooding and earthquakes as well as possible terrorist events.
“The training not only prepares people to take care of themselves and their families in a disaster situation, it also prepares them to help others in the community,” said Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Once someone has trained as a CERT volunteer, they are not obligated to serve the community in the event of an emergency, Swing added, but if they chose to do so, they will be sworn in as disaster service workers and receive insurance coverage.
“Even if volunteers are unable or unwilling to help in the community, the fact that there are groups of people in the community that are able to help themselves and their families frees up emergency service personnel to help others,” Swing said.
Training classes will begin Sept. 11 and continue weekly through Oct. 23 on Tuesday evenings.
The training will include planning, survival skills and specific activities such as search and rescue and extinguishing fires. Because of the nature of the training, Swing said, residents must be at least 18 to participate, though younger residents may observe.
CERT training typically concludes with a staged disaster event, and the regional training class members will participate in the countywide event in January as a conclusion.
Classes will be held at the Gilroy Fire Department Sunrise Station and the Morgan Hill Police Department’s Emergency Operations Center.
