March 25, 2011
To: Wasatch Hollow Community CERT team members and all citizens interested in neighborhood safety
From: Tim Komlos, WHC CERT Captain
Re: 3/16/11 Team Meeting notes
Our team is gaining momentum. After only three meetings we have 16 members who have stepped up to participate. Each meeting brings new resources for us to utilize to enhance our community’s safety.
In our ranks, we have emergency preparedness coordinators from the Wasatch and the Colonial Hills LDS Wards. Our team is lucky to be able to share the strengths and resources that Steve Osborne and Greg Morrow have already assembled. Our goal is for CERT to develop the emergency preparedness of every street in our community, join in the organization efforts the LDS Church already has in place, and work together to make a stronger community as a whole. We still lack a representative from the Mountain View First Ward, so if you know their emergency coordinator, please have him contact me.
We need to make an assessment of the urgent-care needs and the resources that we have on each street, so the goal is to organize each street with a street captain and, if possible, an assistant captain. This can be any person on the block (no training necessary) who will gather logistical information from their neighbors and, if they’re willing, to organize the people on the street to meet from time to time. We’d like to know:
- The number and the ages of the residents in each household
- If any of the residents are infirm or would need special help in an emergency
- Which households have resources (special tools, extra blankets, generators, etc) that could be used in an emergency
- Emergency contact information, if the residents are willing to share it
- We’d also like to give neighbors our contact info, CERT awareness and training info, and a notification card for them to use in the event of a catastrophe
In an emergency, the Street Captain gathers current info on their street. He or she gets it to the Area Captain, who oversees five or six streets and who, in turn, gets the info to a community coordinator. This system will go a long way to allocating help and resources in the neighborhoods where it’s needed.
Some of these positions are already filled, but with 1,400 households in the WHC, we’ll need many more to step forward. The Area Captains won’t be able to be Street Captains, so more than one person per block will still be very useful. If you know anyone willing to help their neighbors in an emergency, please have them contact me.
Other goals we have are:
- Get a community plat plan that will show CERT members, Street Captains, Area Captains, designated meeting places, and other resources.
- Assemble CERT and LDS emergency preparedness info for a page on the WHC website.
- Coordinate with other emergency preparedness groups in our area like the Zion Lutheran Church or neighboring community councils.
- Plant stashes of cribbing materials at CERT members’ houses. It is recommended to have about 40 to 70 pieces that are 2” x 4” x 18”
- Promote the value of individuals getting their ham radio license to help with emergency communications.
- Find other CERT members interested in undertaking secretarial and logistical demands of our team.
So, if you know anyone who can help with any of these tasks, please have them contact me or attend the next meeting.
There will be a new, 7-night CERT class starting 6:30 pm April 7 at Highland High School. The cost is $40. To register contact Steve Osborne at 801. 856.9128 or Brett Lloyd at 801. 718.6740.
Our next meeting will be held the third Wednesday of April at 7:00 at our newest member’s home:
April 20, 7:00 pm
Jim McRae Residence
1345 Emerson Ave.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Tim Komlos, WHC CERT Captain
Cl: 801.301.1845
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