OK Ojai Drill -- Sean's Summary

The following is a report from Sean Kellythorne. Sean was the CERT Incident Commander for the OK Ojai Drill and was stationed at the Ojai Police Station (Emergency Operations Center) on Ventura Street.

OK Ojai Exercise

The OK Ojai Disaster Preparedness exercise turned out to be a great success.
We had more than a hundred volunteers taking part in the exercise, including CERT trained members, Red Cross Volunteers, Ham Radio Operators and people who just wanted to help. We also had almost seven hundred families that put their “OK” signs in their windows.

The Ojai Police Department opened the Incident Command Center for our Amateur Radio Communication Unit. The Chief of Police was on site, along with the County Fire Department Battalion Chief and Public Information Officer.

The new Reverse 911 and the AM 1610 local radio were tested and shown to be invaluable tools in rapidly notifying residents of potential problems. Once the exercise started the local Incident Command System of the Amateur Radio Communication team permitted us to assess the exercise within one hour.

So what does this mean to Ojai Valley citizens? It means that the Ojai Valley is more OK than it has ever been in the event of a disaster. It means: that in a disaster every OK sign means one less home to check out; there are more than one hundred trained volunteers who can be in action immediately and supplement a limited Fire and Police force; we have an effective emergency communications network in the event power failures; it means that we have a community that cares about our families, friends and neighbors.

It also demonstrated the effectiveness of dedicated and trained volunteers supporting our community. It is a testament to the people of Ojai Valley and our willingness to volunteer and do what needs to be done for our community when the chips are down. As local Ojai Valley residents we encourage you to participate in your community as a volunteer responder.

In my opinion, Ojai Valley has proven to be more than OK. It is outstanding.

The thank you list is too long to include everyone however there are some that merit special notice.

Supervisor Steve Bennett and his representatives for Ventura County support. Ojai Mayor Sue Horgan for City of Ojai support. Chief of Police Bruce Norris for opening the doors to the Ham Radio Group. The Ojai Valley News for publicity.

Sean Kellythorne
Paul Garth
Beth Von Gunten

Ventura County Board of Supervisors Meeting

Sean Kellythorne and Beth Von Gunten of Ojai Valley CERT were invited by Ventura County District Supervisor Steve Bennett to present information on Ojai OK Drill (9/17/08) to Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

Thank you to Supervisor Bennett for effectively reviewing the intent of the drill and good job to Sean and Beth for their comments.

It was interesting listening to the other Supervisors generating comments of interest about the OK Sign Drill in their districts.

Please review the video at:

http://ventura.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=40&clip_id=1275

Board Regular Meeting - 9/9/2008 -- Jump to Section 27.

Ojai CERT at Ojai Farmer's Market Sunday 14th

Ojai Valley CERT will have a table at the weekly Ojai Farmer's Market http://www.ojaicertifiedfarmersmarket.com/ to hand out information about the upcoming Sept 17th Ojai OK Drill, to discuss CERT, and sign-up people for the next class (beginning Sept 24th).

Please stop by our booth.

Update: OK... We didn't have a booth, but Sean and myself handed out over 300 OK signs which was a great opportunity.

Ojai OK Drill - specific web-sites

The Ojai OK Drill is being taken very seriously by County Supervisor Bennett's Office -- we even have a subdomain on the County Web-Site.

Check out: http://ovok.countyofventura.org

Ojai Valley CERT has a specific site at: http://sites.google.com/site/ojaiok20080917/

New CERT Class (starting Sept 24th) - sign up!!!

I'm extremely pleased to announce that County Supervisor Steve Bennett's Office will be sponsoring the 6th Ojai Valley CERT Class.

Beginning on September 24th for six Wednesdays from 7:00PM to 9:30PM, concluding with a final Saturday Class/Drill on November 1st. Capt. Steve Lazenby (Santa Paula Fire Department) will be instructing.

Please register for the class by calling Cindy Cantle at (805) 654-2703 or email Cindy.cantle@ventura.org.

Register early to reserve a spot. Timing is great, because Golden Guardian is coming up on November 13th - the biggest state-wide disaster drill in history. Check this blog for more details forthcoming.

Location of CERT Class - Oak View Park and Resource Center, 555 Mahoney Street, Oak View.

Please click here for a flyer: http://portal.countyofventura.org/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/BOS/OVOK_DOCS/CERTSIGNUPFLYER.PDF

Reverse 911 to be used before Ojai OK Drill

I've been informed by Ojai Chief of Police Bruce Norris that the Reverse 911 system will be used to communicate out to residents just before Wednesday Sept 17th at 7:00PM to remind everyone to do three things:

1. Establish and practice your Disaster Plan
2. Tune into AM Radio Station 1610
3. Post your OK sign in a street-facing window

This web-site covered the Reverse 911 system. Please ensure you register both landline and cellphone numbers.

http://ojaivalleycert.blogspot.com/2008/07/reverse-911-emergency-alert-system.html

This article from The Ojai Post goes into further details of the Reverse 911 Drill: http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/09/reverse_911_mass_call_feature.shtml

This article was posted in Ventura County Star:
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/sep/13/no-headline---nxxfcreverse911-13/

Advertising the OK Sign Drill

County Supervisor Steve Bennett's office has done a great job of recognizing and advertising Ojai Valley CERT this week.

-Tuesday AM, the Ojai OK CERT Drill was recognized at the County Board of Supervisor's Meeting.

-Tuesday PM, at the Ojai City Council meeting, Supervisor Bennett detailed the specifics of the Ojai OK Drill

-Wednesday, the Ojai Valley News had a front page article discussing the new AM 1610 Radio Station and Supervisor Bennett had an OpEd piece about the CERT Drill

-Friday, the Ojai Valley News will include the OK Sign and instructions as an insert.