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The area around Marco Island Fire Station 51 (Elkcam Circle) was set up to resemble a scene after a tornado strike.

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members acted out how they would respond if a tornado affected Collier County. In this scenario every fire rescue department in the county was busy. This is where the Marco Island CERT members come in. CERT members provide vital services in conjunction with emergency responders, whose arrival may be delayed due to the scope of the situation.

The Mock Disaster Drill was the culmination of an eight week Marco Island CERT course offered by the Marco Island Firefighters and rescue personnel. Lectures are supported by visuals, video, and practical and team building exercises whenever possible.

The curriculum includes disaster effect and response; disaster medical operations; light search and rescue; fire suppression, utility control and safety; pre and post storm planning and the final Mock Disaster Drill.

In an actual emergency, CERT members would meet at the disaster location. Usually the first CERT person who arrives on the scene is the Incident Commander. For the Mock Disaster Drill, Ray Rosenberg was the Incident Commander.

During the CERT training different members practice being Incident Commander, the hope is that everyone feels comfortable being an Incident Commander. The initial Incident Commander may pass off responsibility to someone else as more CERT members arrive. A scribe works with the Incident Commander to document the entire event. Linda Spell acted as the scribe for the Mock Disaster Drill.

Before arriving at the disaster location one CERT member would go by the Marco Island Fire Rescue Building to pick up the CERT Bins. There are three different bins. One bin contains the medical supplies with bandages and other items to provide on the spot treatment to victims. Another bin contains the material to set up the medical / triage area such as tents, triage flags and other material. Another bin contains the command information including clip boards, sign-in sheets, and badges.

CERT makes sure that every CERT member who enters a disaster area is accounted for when the event is over.

Individual CERT teams are formed once it is determined what CERT members show up at the disaster area. Each team had a specific purpose. For this drill the red team was the medical team and the green and yellow teams were search and rescue respectively. The green and yellow teams would also have fire suppression responsibilities in the event they came in contact with a fire.

Once the teams are formed and properly briefed by the Incident Commander the teams begin assessing the area and helping the victims. Each Marco Island CERT team member is equipped with a radio. Each CERT team communicates within its team on a certain radio frequency. Only the team leader communicates with the other CERT teams and the Incident Commander who in turn communicates with the Marco Island Fire Rescue Department. This helps to reduce confusion and over talk.

The medical / triage area is set up as soon as possible. The flags from the medical / triage bin are used to organize the triage / medical area. There are four different types of triage flags; black for the morgue, red for life threatening injuries, yellow for less than life threatening, and green for the walking wounded. The flags are set up in different areas to help keep the triage area organized.

During the Mock Disaster Drill CERT members had to deal with a variety of situations. There was a mother with a baby in a third floor window of a burning building. The mother had to eventually drop her baby out the window as a last resort. There were people with broken bones, cuts, bruises, burns and electrical injuries. To help keep the operation organized each victim is tagged with a triage tag. The triage tag describes the injury and the severity of the injury. The triage tag helps first responders and medical personnel to effectively and efficiently distribute the limited resources and provide the necessary immediate care for the victims until more help arrives. The triage tags also help determine what part of the medical / triage area the victims are sent too.

CERT member’s not only had to deal with injuries they also had to deal with grief stricken parents who tried to reenter the disaster area to check on the condition of their child. The mock disaster had everything. There was a blind lady looking for her dog. There was also a truck that had come in contact with an overhead electric cable. This made the truck electrified. One of the CERT members was injured when he tired to help the truck driver.

Safety precautions were used during the Mock Disaster Drill. CERT members and volunteers had a stop word. The stop word was “Free.” If the stop word was used everything stopped until the problem was taken care off.

After the Drill the CERT members had an after action review. Everyone was very positive about the way the drill went. Brenda Neiweem said the class was “Entertaining and Educational.” Ray Rosenberg said “I think things went well.” Everyone was pleased with the way communications worked. Bob O’Connor said, “Communication was great. I can not imagine how a CERT team can operate without communications.” The Marco Island CERT team is one of the few CERT teams with communication abilities.

The after action debriefing also pointed out the negatives of the event. No one found the infant in the tree. James Nee stressed, “Always look up.” He also said you need to be very observant of your environment. He continued do a general 360 scan. He said this is especially important after a tornado.

Bob O’Connor felt good about the Mock Disaster Drill. He said, “CERT is just neighbors being neighbors.”

After completion of the mock disaster drill graduates receive a graduation certificate and join previously trained members of Marco Island CERT. CERT members meet from time to time for skill practices and new information. All CERT members are fully equipped with protective gear provided by the Marco Island Fire Rescue Department.

There was a general consensus for the need of more CERT members. Another class will be conducted once they have 10 -15 students. Call Steve Fickling at 398-3105 for details.