Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is your neighbors, friends, and co-workers - a collection of community volunteers that want themselves and their town to be prepared in the event of an emergency or disaster.
I am a member of Bedford, NH CERT and
the Londonderry, NH ALERT (A Londonderry Emergency Response Team). Their missions are maintaining a trained, dedicated group of volunteers:
1)
Assist
their communities and its public safety departments in times of need.
2)
Serve as a
community source for education on emergency preparedness and prevention.
3)
Recruit
and regularly train volunteer citizens.
Search and
Rescue Training (SAR)
I have taken advantage of search and rescue
training offered by both the Londonderry ALERT and Bedford CERT. The types of their search and rescue training I have been part of include:
- Wilderness line search to locate missing persons or objects (SAR).
- Orienteering – how to read and use a
compass and/or map.
- Red
Cross Advanced First Aid certification including CPR, splints, bandaging
and transporting patients.
- Amateur
Radio (Ham Radio Operators) within SAR.
Below are briefs of the above selected CERT and ALERT training
exercises, which blend the learned skills for SAR, map and compass, first
aid, and ham radio communication.
Line
Search and Rescue Training at Musquash Conservation
Area, Londonderry, NH
Searches Prepared for a Winter Line Search
Under the general name of Line Search and
Rescue training, the ALERT and CERT teams teaches and practices four general
steps:
- Locate the victim using Line Search Method: Maintain a line of searchers arms-length apart. Walk straight ahead (as best in a wilderness environment). A person behind line guides line to maintain a straight line of search. Left and right end line searchers insure line is staying together. Move through assigned search area looking for signs of distress or hint of missing person or item. See Picture: Searchers Prepared for a Winter Line Search.
- Access the victim.
- Stabilize the victim by treating any life threatening injuries.
- Transport the victim to a safe area for professional assessment.
There is a safety dress inspection to be sure
all line searchers are dressed appropriately for the condition of the
environment. If someone is unequipped they cannot participate. For example, in
winter weather a check is made to insure no cotton clothing is worn. No jeans are allowed. Best fabrics are polypropylene, silk or wicking fabrics on skin
layer. Then layers of wool and fleece. Proper footwear, hydration and a snack
are needed for an extensive excursion.
For this exercise a body (dummy) is placed
within an area and the line search team assigned a section. When the dummy is found, the team proceeds to
provide first aid and then transports the “person” to a safe area.
First Aid Administered On-site
Training was at the Hickory Hill Road trailhead
of the Musquash conservation area off High Range Rd. in Londonderry.
Orienteering Training by Londonderry NH ALERT at Beaver Brook Association, Hollis, NH
Our Beaver
Brook Orienteering GPS Route
Getting a Compass Bearing
There is a Beaver Brook Orienteering Course
laid out among the trails where a trainee can apply map and compass skills and off
trail navigation. Each attendee must
bring their compass and GPS (if they have GPS), and print a copy of the trail
maps and orienteering course. http://www.beaverbrook.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Beaver-Brook-Seasonal-0907-map.pdf
The Londonderry ALERT conducted the training. We
combined hiking with a few hours of navigation training with map and compass. We
practiced how to read a map, determine a compass bearing, and how to follow that
bearing to 9 different points through wooded areas identified on the orienteering map.
Amateur
Radio – Ham Radio Operators
Both CERT and ALERT
offer instruction in using hand operated radios. Members practice their radio skills in the SAR
exercises. Ham operators have in common a basic knowledge of radio technology,
operating principles and regulations, demonstrated by passing an examination
for a license to operate on radio frequencies known as the "Amateur
Bands."
These frequencies are allocated by the Federal Communications
Commission for use by hams from just above the AM broadcast band all the way up
into extremely high microwave frequencies.
|
Learn
more about Amateur Radio at New
Hampshire American Radio Relay League Section Web Site http://www.arrl-nh.org/
Map and
Compass Training
The UNH Cooperative Extension, provided a two
hour class on compass and topographical maps. The presenter emphasized Map,
Compass and Pacing, so, “you will know where you are.”
Pacing: We
began the class by going outdoors. The
instructor used a measuring tape to lay out a 100 foot distance, and had each
member of the class count their normal paces back and forth to get the average
number of steps. He wanted us to “memorize forever”, that, in my case, 40 paces
closely approximates 100 feet. The
Lesson: In the woods with a map, knowing distance can be critical.
Maps: Here are a few map items discussed:
- The Internet has both map and an aerial .photos (e.g. https://www.google.com/maps)
- You can also get topographical maps on
the Internet
- Understand how to read topographical
maps
http://tiny.cc/49c75x
Compass
tips:
- Azimuth is 0 to 360 degrees. Quadrant is 0 to 90 degrees.
- Declination – in New Hampshire, magnetic
North is 16 degrees west from true North.
Declination is zero degrees west side of the Great Lakes
- The compass arrow is ALWAYS correct!
- Box the arrow (north)
- You can see about 100 feet in the woods
of New Hampshire. Sight on a rock
or a tree.
- Good to know measures:
- 1 miles is 5,280 feet
- 1 acre is 43,560 sq. ft. or
approximately 208’ x 208’
Compass
and Map References (One Page Briefs from Appalachian Mountain Club):
- How
to Choose a Compass
http://tiny.cc/bwt75x - Don’t
Get Lost: Finding your way there and back
http://tiny.cc/put75x - How
to read topographical maps
http://tiny.cc/2xt75x
Search and Rescue Bedford CERT and Londonderry ALERT
References:
- Too learn more about Bedford CERT http://www.bedfordnhcert.org/
- To learn more about Londonderry ALERT http://www.londonderryalert.org/
- http://www.extension.unh.edu
- Map of Musquash Trails, Londonderry,
NH
http://tiny.cc/iyd75x - Beaver
Brook Association Orienteering Map
http://tiny.cc/s0c75x - Beaver
Brook Association Trail Map http://tiny.cc/g4c75x
- New Hampshire American Radio Relay League Section Web Site http://www.arrl-nh.org/
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"Everyone must do something. I believe I will go outdoors with family and friends"
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