The earthquake in Haiti demonstrated once again how fragile life is. It is frustrating to see so many people hurt and without adequate help. The only thing we can do from here is to send money to the agencies that are bringing relief to the survivors of the quake.  The American Red Cross has already pledged $1 million, but more, much more is needed. It is a race against the clock.
Typically, 90% of quake survivors are rescued by other survivors, not by emergency services. In Haiti – a nation without any emergency infrastructure – there are few, preciously few trained volunteers available for rescue work. By the time enough people have been flown in from other countries, many of the survivors will have died.
So, first of all, please donate to the relief efforts. Donate now! Money travels faster than people and with your donations tools, supplies etc. can be purchased to directly assist the living.
What you can do next is to make sure that you are prepared for a similar or worse quake in the Bay Area. If you are a member of Lamorinda CERT, you probably realized how prepared you are for a catastrophe like Haiti because of your training.The Community Emergency Response Team is without a doubt the most successful (and important) FEMA program!

Watching the tragedy on TV, I realized how important the cribbing skills are that we teach in Lamorinda CERT. Dozens of people trying to get to survivors in Haiti, who are buried under rubble and rescuers who find themselves unable to move heavy beams or concrete slabs. Without equipment to move the obstacles in their way, rescuers lose precious time. And that leads to loss of life.

What happens after a quake:

• QUAKE DAY 1: 80.5% of victims rescued ALIVE by other survivors
• QUAKE DAY 2: 28.5% of victims pulled from rubble are alive 
• QUAKE DAY 3: 21.8% of victims rescued alive
• QUAKE DAY 4: 5.9% of victims rescued alive Time runs out!
• QUAKE DAY 5: 5.8% of victims alive
  

You can imagine the good trained CERT volunteers with experience in light search and rescue and in cribbing can do in a situation like HHaiti - or after the Big One in the Bay Area.

Watching CNN showing pictures of long lines of people waiting for basic first aid, reminded me of the “jungle medicine” that we teach in CERT. You probably all saw the woman with the broken leg who had been unable to get medical attention for 18 hours. Imagine what trained CERT volunteers can do, how they can help stabilize injured people and prevent the injuries from getting worse. In  Lamorinda CERT we expect our cities to be cut off for up to two weeks. 

And then there were the fires, apparently burning out of control in Haiti - much like the fires after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Many of those fires must started as small fires immediately after the quake. Again, CERT graduates know how to put out small fires, how to turn off the gas and help people evacuate if the situation gets out of control.

The situation in Haiti seems to be seriously out of control. With frequent aftershocks and many rumors floating around you can see people running through the streets.  This is where a trained disaster response team can really help. Restore communications and provide support for the population.

While Haiti demonstrates the value of disaster preparedness (“how is YOUR emergency kit doing?”) there is no room for complacency here in the Bay Area. This was only a 7.0 quake. We are expecting something many times stronger in the not too distant future.

Haiti provides a grim reminder how fragile life is. And how much more we need to do to keep our communities safe. I hope we can agree that we must start where we stand. That we must make sure our emergency kits are adequate, that all members of our families know what to do, that we work with our neighbors and other people in the community to prepare for our Haiti.

So, after you have donated for the Haiti relief efforts, please join us. There is a refresher training for CERT graduates on February 4th. For those who are not yet CERT trained: the next free CERT training begins on February 3rd.