Welcome to Ojai Valley CERT

IMPORTANT UPDATE.....


THIS WEB-SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED.

PLEASE GO TO HTTP://OJAIVALLEYCERT.ORG

This blog provides information to those interested in CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) activities in The Ojai Valley, CA. CERT works in partnership with OVARC (Ojai Valley Amateur Radio Club) which provides Ham Radio Communications - http://www.ovarc.org/.

http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert is a good place to begin learning about CERT. The fact is, immediately after a major disaster, each of us will be on our own while Emergency Services Personnel (Fire, Hospital, Police, Hospitals, etc) figure out what happened and how to respond. CERT teaches valuable self-preservation skills and empowers each of us to be of service to ourselves, family, neighborhood and community. By integrating CERT with Ham Radio, citizens can effectively communicate actionable information from the field to the Emergency Operations Center -- help will be on the way sooner.

Please check out the CERT Calendar & Map at the bottom of this web-page and sign our Guestbook (top right of page).

Ojai Valley (CERT, Ham Radio, Red Cross)

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Webinars for Neighborhood Tabletop Exercises

I haven't gone through one of these programs yet, but it looks to be very promising. Please take a look at the links.

What: Webinars for Neighborhood Tabletop Exercises January - June 2011.
Who: Recommended for CERT teams/communities or other spontaneous emergency volunteers (recommended that at least 3 people/group register & participate simultaneously).

Links:
http://www.drc-group.com/project/footprint.html

http://www.drc-group.com/library/exercise/formidable/Formidable-Neighborhood-ExerciseFlyer.pdf

* Free to participate
* Several scenarios to consider: earthquake, flood, hurricane, influenza pandemic, tornado, and wildfire.
* May work best if a group is participating together in one location.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Ojai Day 2010 - Pics

Ojai Day 2010 was supported well with volunteers from Ojai Valley CERT, Ojai Valley Amateur Radio Club and American Red Cross (Ojai).



Friday, October 15, 2010

2010 CERT Expo - Registration Open for Nov 6th

The 2010 CERT Expo (Saturday, November 6th - all day) is now open for registration.

Please register by going to: http://fire.countyofventura.org/cert



For questions, or to volunteer, contact your local CERT Coordinator or Ventura County Fire Department CERT Program Administrator at 805-389-9710

Ventura County CERT Council upcoming meeting (Oct 26th)

Please set aside October 26th from 7:00PM to 8:30PM.

The National Weather Service (NWS) will offer Weather-spotting training to interested CERT volunteers.

See flier below:

Friday, September 24, 2010

2010 Ojai OK! Drill - Various Pics

Picture take by Ray Smith (KI6VED)at Sarzotti park, at the completion of the OK drill.

Left to right: Virginia Rasch (KJ6BXX), Diana Bailey KI6VCN, Lou Torres, Jade Smith KI6VFQ, Jake Bailey KI6VCO



Lynn Haag standing out Vons Supermarket handing out signs.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Glenda making passionate delivery to Rotary Club

This is Glenda giving a spirited presentation to Rotary Club Ojai West about upcoming Ojai OK! Drill.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Check out Ojai Valley News - Fri 9/10, page 2

Novel way of advertising OK! Drill

This is one idea that Paul in Arbolada/Foothill is doing to advertise the OK! Drill.

We live on a street that has a lot of walkers so I put out this display and
have given away over 25 signs.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Creating Vigilant, Prepared, Resilient Communities for Homeland Security

This information sent to Ojai from Tom Fischer - Antelope Valley CERT.

The Regional Community Policing Institute-California and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department CERT Program is hosting the following Free Training.

Creating Vigilant, Prepared, Resilient Communities for
Homeland Security


October 5 – 6, 2010 (Tuesday & Wednesday)
8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
at the Norwalk Arts and Sports Complex
13000 Clarkdale Avenue, Norwalk, California 90650


Only with strong partnerships, enhanced networking capabilities, and organized
community infrastructures can United States' communities become vigilant,
prepared, and resilient in the war on terrorism and other events of national
significance. Whether security threats involve acts of terrorism or natural or
man-made disasters, a community's ability to become vigilant, prepared, and
resilient depends upon the efforts/partnerships of law enforcement,
governmental and non-governmental organizations, community members, and
tribal members who are adequately trained and equipped. With the continued
threat of terrorist attacks and other events of national significance, now more
than ever, it is incumbent on every U.S. citizen to not become a burden in times
of crisis.
This two-day course is designed to provide individuals, organizations,
communities, businesses, schools and public safety agencies with awarenesslevel
information that leads to creating vigilant, prepared, and resilient
communities for homeland security and events of national significance. This
interactive course includes classroom instruction, problem-based learning
strategies, and practical hands-on activities in topics that include:


The components of homeland security preparedness and response,
including terrorism and fear considerations
The elements of group dynamics, including team building, leadership
principles, and conflict resolution
Community responsibility and action planning


Please register at http://www.rcpi-ca.org/classreg/. For questions, contact the
Regional Community Policing Institute at 1-800-659-8985. There is no fee to
attend this course.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

CalTrans Signs advertising Ojai OK! Drill

Thanks to Ojai's Chief of Police Capt Chris Dunn, we have one of the best forms of advertising for the upcoming Ojai OK! Drill -- September 15th at 7PM.

For the second year in a row, two CalTrans Signs have been positioned at the foot of the Dennison Grade near Carne Road and the other by Casitas as Hwy 33 down-steps to 45 MPH.

The sign is advertising tuning to AM1610, so please do that for more information.



Sunday, August 29, 2010

Contribute ideas to DHS on Preparedness

http://preparedness.ideascale.com/

3rd Annual Ojai OK! Drill - Weds Sept 15th 7PM

The 3rd Annual Ojai OK! Drill is happening this year on Wednesday, Sept 15th at 7PM.

Ojai Valley CERT will be distributing yellow OK Signs in the weeks leading up to the drill. You can also get the signs from the Ojai Library and Ojai Valley Fire Stations. Note: If you're having difficulties finding a sign, email to ojaivalleycert@gmail.com.

We're asking Citizens to review the Emergency Preparedness Information on the reverse side and then post the sign in a street-facing window at 7PM. Please leave the sign up overnight.

Ojai Valley CERT and various other groups (Ham Radio, Red Cross) will search throughout the Ojai Valley to locate and count signs.

The objective is to utilize Incident Command Procedures and Ham Radio Operators to aggregate all counts and roll-up the results to the Ojai EOC (Emergency Operations Center at Ojai Police Department)within 1 hour. We look forward to collaborating this year with other CERT Groups within the County and out-of-state.

Please go to http://okdrill.org for more details.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Ojai Valley CERT wins a prize from HealthyCityVC

I submitted, on behalf of Ojai Valley CERT, to HealthyCity (www.healthycityvc.org) and won!!! Check out the web-site. This is a great tool for sharing your story and using map overlays to create a visual picture of your project's jurisdiction.

Share and Connect!

Congratulations to the winners of our Tell My Story drawing! Like many of you out there, they have a story to share about the great work they are doing - from building community collaboratives that aim to improve health outcomes to initiatives that tackle statewide issues. Healthy City will provide one-on-one technical assistance to these winning organizations to help them tell their story in the Share & Connect room:

California WALKS - a project that works statewide to improve pedestrian safety by mentoring local groups and working to educate, encourage and empower community residents by providing community-based pedestrian safety skill building and advocacy workshops.

Ojai OK! Drill - a dynamic Communications exercise held annually in the Ojai Valley for Emergency Preparedness.

The South LA Best Babies Collaborative - a collaborative of five agencies, The SLABBC provides Case Management, Health Education and Social Support groups for low-income pregnant and parenting women.

How do I create a Story?
It's not too late for you to tell YOUR story. In our last Healthy City E-blast, we announced the newly available technology on HealthyCity.org that enables you to share your organization's story in a dynamic and visual way to encourage action and strengthen advocacy efforts. You can create a story that describes your project or initiative using any or all of the following elements:

- PDFs and reports
- Maps
- Charts
- Videos, Photo
- Links to resources
- Message boards...and more!

To help get you started...

The Healthy City User Guide: Refer to the updated Healthy City User Guide for step-by-step instructions on telling your story.

Hands-on Training: If you're in the Los Angeles area, attend our Advanced hands-on training at The California Endowment on August 20th from 9:30 am - 2 pm. To register, email SUlrickson@advanceproj.org . Check out a full description of the training session and see other opportunities on our new Training Calendar!

Recorded Webinars: Watch and listen to our recorded webinars. View the Introductory Training webinar if you're just getting started, then check out the Advanced Training webinar and Map like the wind!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Fun pictures from 2008 Golden Guardian Exercise

Anne's pet Chihuahua (Izzy) was officially inducted into Red Cross & CERT.

Izzy listening to instructions from the IC (Anne) -- Managing by Objectives:



Izzy performing an end-to-end check on a victim.



Izzy doing one last in-building search before clearing the building.



Izzy in standard canine Search & Rescue PPE (Personal/Pet Protective Equipment):

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Heat Illness information

Good information to know for the hotter months

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Pics from Ojai July 4th Parade

All pictures courtesy of Stephen Adams - http://www.stephenadamsphoto.com/




Friday, June 25, 2010

Field Day 2010 - June 26th & 27th (Reagan Library)

Field Day 2010: Emergency Communication Drill To Be Held 26-27 June 2010

The Ventura Co. Amateur Radio Society (VCARS) will be joined by 5 other local amateur radio clubs to conduct annual Emergency Communications Drills during the American Radio Relay League's "Field Day 2010" event on the Grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, Simi Valley, CA. Approximately 100 amateur radio operators will operate approximately 14 communications stations under emergency conditions. Solar power and batteries will power all transceivers. In addition to using voice, Morse Code, and data transmissions, an amateur radio TV station will be featured, and an amateur radio satellite ground station will be used to communicate with other Field Day 2010 groups throughout North America. "Ham Radio Works When Other Systems Don't"


VCARS will be joined by the Amgen Amateur Radio Club (AARC), Conejo Valley Amateur Radio Club (VCARC), Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club (HHQCC), Simi Settlers Amateur Radio Club (SSARC), and the Ventura Co. Amateur Radio Club (VCARC) to conduct operations from 11 A.M. Saturday June 26th, 2010 until 11 A.M. Sunday, June 27th.

This marks the 10th consecutive year for VCARS to conduct Field Day operations from the Grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) >>>>>>www.arrl.org<<<<< sponsors the annual nationwide Field Day to provide Emergency Communications Training & Practice for Amateur Radio Clubs and other groups of Radio Amateurs and to provide public awareness of Amateur Radio. More than 35,000 amateur radio operators (hams) will participate in Field Day 2010.

Amateur Radio "Special Events Callsign" "N6R" has been assigned by the Federal Communications Commission, for this event. "N6R" honors the lives of President Ronald and Mrs. Nancy Reagan.

Scouts from Boy Scout Troop #155 will also attend Field Day at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum to conduct two-way amateur radio communications requirements to complete their "Radio Merit Badge" course. Please also refer to >>>>www.qrz.com/db/n6r<<<< for additional details and information.

A special feature of the Public Information Booth will be the Get On The Air (G.O.T.A.) Station to demonstrate amateur radio use and to let the general public to speak or use a digital (PSK) keyboard to talk with other amateur radio operators over the airwaves. PSK is a specialized way to transmit which enables the operator to send 'text-like messages' over thousands of miles without relying upon commercial cellphone service.

Amateur Radio’s very existence is internationally mandated by the International Telecommunications Union and is an integral part of the Communications Plans of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.), and Ventura County Office of Emergency Services (O.E.S.). Even in today’s technological, cell phone, and e-mail oriented society, Amateur Radio Operators continue to provide both short and long distance emergency communications services during the loss of normal electric power, breakdown of normal cellular telephone networks, or failure of other local, state, & Federal communication services and during area emergencies and other augmentation needs. Many of our Amateur Radio Operators are current members of the Ventura Co. Auxiliary Communications Service (A.C.S.) which provides communications equipment and operators for local hospitals, Emergency Operations Centers (E.O.Cs.), colleges, and other facilities.

The public is invited to attend.

NOTE: News media personnel and V.I.P. guests shall check-in at the Public Information Booth located just outside the East entrance of the Library Quadrangle, immediately upon arrival for a briefing and tour of the Field Day stations. This is needed for safety and coordination concerns. Detailed Media/ V.I.P. briefing packets will be provided.

Regards,

Peter Heins,
Ventura Co. Amateur Radio Society (VCARS) P.I.O.
806.796.6693 cell n6ze@aol.com

Monday, June 7, 2010

Checkout this really good web-site which teaches you all the things you can do to dramatically increase the chances of your home surviving a Wildfire.

Sponsored by CalFire.

Amateur Radio Newsline Web-site

Amateur Radio Newsline™ is a free service to the amateur radio community. It is entirely supported by voluntary donations from individual amateurs and amateur radio clubs.

Checkout the link at Amateur Radio Newsline

Shakeout Drill 2010 - 10/21/10 at 10:21AM

I just completed re-registering Ojai Valley CERT for the upcoming Great California Shakeout Drill.

Please check out this web-site www.shakeout.org and prepare to "Drop, Cover and Hold-on" on October 21st, 2010 at 10:21 a.m

Sunday, May 23, 2010

What you didn't know about Alzheimer's Disease - Seminar

The City of Santa Paula Police Department & Santa Paula Citizens Patrol Unit is sponsoring a seminar entitled, "What you didn't know about Alzeimer's Disease"

Kimberly R. Kelly, Founder and Executive Director of "Project far From Home" will present a Free seminar at The Santa Paula High School Auditorium for personnel associated with searching and caring for Alzheimer's patients.

Date: Saturday, May 29th 2010
Check-in Time: 8AM to 8:45AM (Refreshments)
Seminar Time: 9AM to Noon (Free Seminar)
Location: Santa Paula High School Auditorium
404 N. 6th Street, Santa Paula, CA 93060 (Note: 5th Street Entrance off Santa Paula St leads to the Auditorium

Please contact event coordinator: Beverly Samantha Frady
Citizens Patrol Volunteer @ 805-525-7646 or 805-754-9689
Email: samantha.0103@yahoo.com

Project Far From Home

ESRI picking up on our OK Sign

Was just reviewing the ESRI ArcGIS site and came across this link.

Even the font of the "OK" looks familiar.

Note: Ojai Valley CERT will be developing various maps using our new Depiction Mapping Software. The plan is to also integrate into ESRI's systems.

http://blogs.esri.com/Dev/photos/publicsafety/images/9988/original.aspx

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Ojai Valley CERT (Oak View) hosting guest speaker - Jolene Hoffman

This Monday, March 1, will be the Oak View CERT meeting with Jolene Hoffman, Director of the Ojai Humane Society. She will be speaking to us about "How to be Prepared For Your Pets During an Emergency". Bring yourself, friends or family who might be interested in this subject.

Where: Oak View Park and Resource Center,
555 Mahoney Avenue
Multi-Purpose Room
When: March 1 from 7 - 8PM

There will be a short meeting, for those who are interested, on an update about the triage kit, etc. after the presentation by Jolene Hoffman.

Congratulations to the latest graduating CERT class which occurred today. They were all great sports in participating during the rainy weather.

Welcome to the Oak View CERT!
Pam Edwards
Joanne Roberts
Audrey Herbison
Dana DeYoung

See you there.

Kathy Miller
Oak View CERT Coordinator
KI6VDI

Popular Mechanics article - Disasers (Lessons Learned)

Interesting series of articles from Popular Mechanics Magazine.

It's always useful to understand the detail of past disasters so you can learn what to prepare for the future.

Popular Mechanics

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

CERT Training Available in Ventura Harbor (April/May 2010)

There will be a CERT Class in Ventura Harbor in April or May. If you are missing one or more sessions from previous CERT Trainings, you are welcome to attend just those sessions or all the sessions.

You will be contacted for a date and time of classes. Please email Scott Miller (smiller@venturaharbor.com). You might also email Scott your preference as to which night of the week is best for you. Classes usually begin at 6:30pm for 3 hrs.

Residents and employees/business owners within Ventura Harbor will be given priority placement in the class if more sign up than there are spaces

We appreciate the efforts of Harbormaster Scott Miller and Fire Marshall Brian Clark for making this possible.

Lynn Mikelatos