July 4th Parade -- Ojai Valley CERT marching

The Ojai Valley CERT is proud to make a debut appearance in the Ojai 4th of July Parade. You won't miss us wearing full PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) -- Helmet, Mask, Goggles, Gloves, Vests, Gas Shutoff Wrenches, Flashlights, duct tape, scissors, Ham Radio equipment, First Aid Supplies, and anything else we can get our hands on...

Our positioning should be next to Red Cross and OVARC (Ojai Valley Amateur Radio Club). The CERT group considers our parade participation a drill -- an agreement to arrive at a rendezvous point and achieve a common objective.

Santa Paula CERT graduates have been invited to join forces. Aside from CERT, our connection is sharing the same instructor -- Capt. Steve Lazenby (Santa Paula Fire Department).

Please visit the Official Ojai 4th of July web-site at --> http://www.ojai4th.org/

ARRL Amateur Radio Week 6/28/08

We would like to invite all Ojai Valley CERT graduates (especially those who have expressed interest in amateur radio!) to visit us at the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day event, to be held all day in the parking lot at Nordhoff High School on Saturday, June 28.

"Field Day" is the climax of the week long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. Their slogan, "When all else fails -- Amateur Radio" is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis.

Please visit the Ojai Valley Amateur Radio Club web-site -- www.ovarc.org

Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council Event 6/21/08

The local non-profit Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council is holding its first annual Wildfire Safety Fair on Saturday, June 21, 2008, 10 am-2 pm in the Nordhoff High School parking lot.

This family-oriented event will feature educational presentations relating to wildfire safety, as well as food, music, water play with fire hoses, Smokey Bear, free prize raffles and lots of firefighting trucks and other equipment on display.

Ojai Valley CERT, the Ventura County Fire Department, U.S. Forest Service, Ojai Police, Search & Rescue and many other groups will present information on topics such as creating "defensible space" around your home, fire safe landscaping, fire-resistant plants, animal safety during emergencies, and many other topics regarding safety and prevention.

Scouts in Tornado Help Save Lives

This news article from ABC World News highlights how a group of surving boy scouts managed to establish order out of chaos after a tornado smashed through their camp.

While the story includes tragedy of four scouts, the survivors immediately put into action their training and skills and averted an even bigger tragedy.

We in CERT can learn something from the Boy Scout Motto -- "Be Prepared".

http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/Weather/Story?id=5053388&page=1

5th Ojai Valley CERT Graduation & Drill (6/7/08)

The 5th Ojai Valley CERT class completed their final class, participated in a live drill exercise and graduated on Saturday, June 7th, 2008.

This web-site gives action photos of exercises including:

-Incident Command System
-Communications
-Cribbing and Lifting
-Search and Rescue - lift & carry
-Triage
-Fire Suppression

http://picasaweb.google.com/OjaiValleyCERT/5thOjaiValleyCERTGraduationDrill

USGS Earthquake simulation

This web-page gives a sobering example of the powerful effects an earthquake can have.

The USGS and Southern California Earthquake Center ShakeOut Simulation workgroup put together a simulation by Rob Graves, URS/SCEC. Visualization by Geoff Ely, USC/SCEC.

http://urbanearth.gps.caltech.edu/shakeout/

5th Ojai Valley CERT Graduation Saturday, 6/7/08

The 5th Ojai Valley CERT training course will have their graduation and final drill on Saturday June 7th from 10:00AM to approximately 12:00PM at the Oak View Park and Resource Center.
All CERT graduates and Ham Radio Operators are invited to attend the drill -- participating as victims, communications officers, etc.

All Ojai Valley CERT Neighborhood Coordinators are invited to attend to represent your neighborhoods and introduce yourself to the new graduates.