Monday, August 1, 2022

Augst 2022 - Be Prepared!

August 2022
To ensure we're all ready to activate if a hurricane hits LWR, the Operations Committee is planning a Simulated Hurricane Exercise. Rumor has it, it may be headed for LWR really soon... watch your email and phones for notifications and respond quickly.
From the top
Gulf water temperatures are nice and warm right now. While this makes it easy to enter the water at the beach, storms that enter warm water in the Gulf can spin up into powerful hurricanes. Last July, LWR CERT activated for Hurricane Elsa. We are hoping that the Gulf continues to be quiet this year. However, hope is not a plan to protect your family. Please prepare for the season while the skies are blue.
 
LWR CERT members, we will be testing our readiness in the next few weeks. Members should be on the lookout for Hurricane “LWR CERT 2022 Exercise”. If you receive notifications about that storm, it is an organization-wide exercise to help us prepare. We are excited to have several new Team Captains with us this year who will be performing their activation duties for the first time during this exercise.
 
There is information below for our next public event. Hurricane Prep for LWR Residents will be held on Aug. 27. Please invite your neighbors to this free, 90-minute educational event. While it is great that years can pass between major hurricane impacts in our neighborhoods, complacency builds over time. Having prepared neighbors may help ease our activation response.
 
See you around the neighborhood,

Jim Emanuelson
President, LWR CERT
850.396.2695
LWR is entering peak hurricane season -- the time of year when Florida has historically seen the most tropical storm and hurricane activity.

A free public education session Hurricane Prep for LWR Residents is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27 from 9-10:30 AM at LWR Town Hall. It will cover the same information which was shared at our May 10 hurricane prep event.

LWR CERT members, encourage your neighbors to register for this free educational session. It's a great way to introduce them to LWR CERT and to help them (and you) prepare for the upcoming peak of hurricane season.

Click the link below to register up to 4 people or ask your neighbors to visit www.lwrcert.org/events for more info to register on their own.
Click to Register for Aug. 27 Hurricane Prep event
Hurricane Prep for LWR Residents is a 2022 Active Responder qualifying event
Fall course scheduled
Grow your team
Register a neighbor now
Lakewood Ranch is always seeking new CERT members. LWR CERT, which covers the CDD area of LWR known as Phase 1, offers Basic Training for everyone in the LWR area.

The next LWR CERT Basic Training course at Town Hall begins Oct. 13. We encourage our members to grow their teams by inviting their neighbors to attend this course.

Registration and details at lwrcert.org/join. This will be the last LWR CERT Basic Training offered this year.
Tackling the 2-Hour Speed Basic Training Challenge
With only 120 minutes to refresh the entire Basic Training course, the Training Committee pulled off what seemed like the impossible. On Thursday, July 21, more than two dozen members accepted the Speed Basic Training challenge and completed the 2-hour course.

Hands-on activities included jaw thrust maneuvers; placing survivors in the recovery position; controlling bleeding, proper use of tourniquets; helping administer an EpiPen; splinting using a SAM splint or other available materials; creating a sling from a triangular bandage; stabilizing impaled objects; and setting radio channels and privacy codes.

Attendees also reviewed Readiness Conditions, activation procedures and all 8 sections of the Basic Training manual including CERT size-up, treating shock, triage, disaster psychology, managing a death scene, fire safety, and the Run-Hide-Fight active shooter response (click graphic below to watch the FBI video).
Attendees were awarded special Speed Basic Training course completion badges for their CERT helmets.

Thanks to Training Manager Nigel Pilling and instructors Brenda Nusbaum, Bud Goetzinger, Mike Modisett, Kalena Ostrosky, Pat Knowles, Sharon Defferding, Tim Sherer, and support from Eddie Russell, Hillary Harter, Jim Emanuelson and Ray Arroyo. Based on feedback, this event was a huge success.
Speed Basic Training was a 2022 Active Responder qualifying event
SRVA-wide Team Meeting at Summerfield Park
LWR CERT Membership Manager Bruce Bedford is also currently serving as Team Captain and Group Leader for Teams 1, 2 and 3 in Riverwalk and Teams 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 in Summerfield! Bruce organized a SVRA-wide team meeting at Summerfield Park the morning of Saturday, July 23 to review plans for the 2022 Hurricane Season with SRVA members. Radio Communications Committee members Frank Giannone and Tim Sherer were on hand to answer questions and help team members with their radios.

Attendees were treated to donuts and beverages as they heard the latest LWR CERT updates and had their activation questions answered. A few attendees were lucky and walked away with door prizes. At the meeting, Maureen Corristan agreed to serve as Team 2 Team Captain. Thank you to Maureen and to all who attended.
Team 8 reviews Search and Rescue skills
Team 8 Team Captain Cynthia Olcott and Alan Blair hosting an evening of Search and Rescue review skills for their team. We heard it was fun, entertaining, and quite informative. Team members learned how important it is to work, discuss, and decide as a team what course of SAFE ACTION they should take before moving on.

Pictured are Mike Staley (left), Paul Jackowski, Alan Blair, Cynthia Olcott, Karen Lily, and Patt Staley.
Thanks to our CERT Volunteers!

On the hot, steamy Saturday morning of July 2, Gary Cockfield, Elaine Cockfield, Jean Hritz, Sharon Defferding, and Mike Defferding joined several other residents in cleaning up Lorraine Road as part of Keep Manatee Beautiful 's 1st Saturdays Clean Ups.

Thanks to all your hard work that stretch of Lorraine looks great!
Team Leadership Changes

Thank you and welcome to our newest Team Captains and Backup Team Captain. We appreciate you stepping up to lead your neighborhood teams.

  • Maureen Corristan - Team 2 (Riverwalk)
  • George Jenckes - Team 26 (Country Club)
  • Polly Greene - Team 36 (Country Club) - Backup TC

Thank you to retiring Team Captain Connie Farmer (Team 26). We are glad you plan to remain an active LWR CERT member.
Congratulations to our newest 2022 Active Responders
Tier 1
Maureen Corristan
Deborah Jernigan
Jack Mathews
Julie Russell
Art Taber
Tier 2
Maureen Corristan
George Jenckes

Click here to learn how you can earn points toward Active Responder awards or visit the Member Section of our website, www.lwrcert.org.
Member News and Things to Know
party_balloons_celeb.jpg
Happy August birthday to members Bruce Bedford, Mark Burton, Don Diven, Paul Drzal, Kathy Epstein-Leis, Frank Giannone, Jean Hritz, Gordon Kuhn, Don O'Leary, Cindy Peirce, Bill Plerhoples, Rich Raymond, Eddie Russell, and Lorraine Wright.

ERCN Auxiliary Hubs - Radio Communications Committee Manager Bud Goetzinger has been working with two of the newest RCC members, Alan Blair (KQ4BOJ) and Tony Gula (KO4ZWX), to set up their ham radio equipment, so they are ready and prepared to step in to help the LWR CERT Emergency Radio Communications Network when needed.

ECRN Quarterly Test - On Saturday, July 16, the LWR CERT Emergency Radio Communications Network ran a successful scheduled test of their equipment and communications.

LWR CERT Polo Shirts - Have you noticed the sea of dark green polo shirts at LWR CERT events? Want a shirt of your own? Become an active volunteer on a committee or order one here.

Marking a house before entry - LWR CERT backpacks are currently stocked with a marking crayon. During Basic Training, attendees received instruction to only mark a building near the front door if there has been sufficient enough damage that entry is warranted. No marking of every house necessary if there is no damage and if the home was not entered. If windows are broken or there is a reason to enter the home, marking should be done at outlined in the Quick Activation Guide and taught in Basic Training.

Neighborhood Newsletter - Does your neighborhood have a newsletter? Want more neighbors on your team? LWR CERT sends special preview information to Neighborhood Newsletter editors each month, which they can include in their publications. Send your editor's name and email address to cert@lwrcert.org to have them added to our special distribution list.
CERTs Across The Country
Did you know that members of the Highland Park, Illinois CERT were some of the first responders on the scene after last month's 4th of July parade shooting?

Sponsored by the Highland Park Police Department, Highland Park CERT was performing crowd control duties and providing public information for the parade. Because they were on the scene, a number of CERT members provided emergency first aid to some of the shooting survivors before professional first responders arrived.

We thank our fellow CERTs for their efforts to assist their fellow residents in time of need.
Upcoming LWR CERT Meetings and Training
Meetings take place at LWR Town Hall unless otherwise noted and are open to LWR CERT members

Executive Board Meeting - Tuesday, August 2 at 11:30 PM - Location TBD
Board Meeting - Monday, August 8 at 7 PM
Training Committee - Wednesday, August 17 at 4 PM - Virtual only
Radio Communications Committee - Thursday, August 18 at 7 PM
FREE PUBLIC EVENT: Hurricane Prep for LWR Residents - Saturday, August 27 at 7 PM Advance Registration Requested
Save the Date: Member Meeting - Tuesday, September 27 at 7 PM
FREE PUBLIC EVENT: When Bad Things Happen to Good People: Emergency First Aid You Need to Know - Saturday, Oct. 8 at 9 AM


Augst 2022 - Be Prepared!

August 2022 To ensure we're all ready to activate if a hurricane hits LWR, the Operations Committee is planning a Simulated Hurricane Ex...