Haiti relief has local connection
By Jonas Shellhammer
When an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit Haiti on Jan. 12, international aid and rescue forces rushed to provide assistance to the stricken region. Some of the first responding teams were locally organized and trained as part of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, which Director of Campus Safety and Security Cathy Anthofer helped set up in Haiti some six years ago.
Anthofer was working on her graduate degree in emergency management and higher education leadership at Eastern Michigan University in 2004, when she received a phone call about the CERT program. She started working with the program in Bay County, Mich., and eventually came in contact with Paul Cormier, who at the time was the Director of Emergency Management for Bay County. Cormier was also involved with a school in Haiti for underprivileged children.
Anthofer traveled with Cormier to Haiti in order to train locals, not only as CERT team members, but also as trainers themselves.
“Our whole vision was to have them have the ability to train as many teams as they wanted to,” said Anthofer.
After getting trained, the local teams were given a set of CERT equipment packages, which typically include such things as bandages, tape, and heavy gloves. However, due to funding limitations, Cormier and Anthofer’s group had to make it a one-time gift; after the initial equipment wore out, the Haitian teams had to replace it themselves.
Almost six years later, the Haitian CERT program was still in full throttle and provided crucial assistance when the earthquake hit. Cormier’s school - where the training originally occurred in 2004 - is located in Leogane, which was the epicenter of the earthquake. While main relief efforts were directed to Port-au-Prince, Leogane received relatively little aid in the days following the initial tremor. Anthofer estimates that the CERT presence helped some 1,500 people in need.
So what is the purpose of CERT and how does the training work?
CERT was originally a project started by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and has since become an international phenomenon. In fact, Cathy Anthofer is working with Associate Dean for Student Success Wendy Seligmann to create a freshman orientation course that will involve CERT training.
Freshman Audrey Timm was part of the June wilderness program last summer. When asked about what kind of emergency-preparedness work she did during the program, Timm replied that it was limited.
“We did some stuff, but I feel like had there been a real emergency, we wouldn’t really have been prepared,” she said. “If I could have taken a program that focused more on that aspect, I would have,” she continued, but went on to say that the program was still a positive experience.
The orientation course, which will be limited to 16 participants and occur in August, will also provide additional experiences outside of the CERT certification that it offers.
“The program provides more extensive training. Students will get certified as CERT members, but they will also receive additional training and certifications,” said Seligmann. This will include an American Red Cross Professional Rescuer certification, which includes AED and CPR training for both adults and infants, as well as training on how to construct shelters.
A CERT training course is 30 hours long, and will provide the trainee with the tools to sustain life in a mass-casualty incident for up to 72 hours. Advanced first aid, basic search and rescue techniques, such as what formations to use as a group, are included in the course. Other skills include fire suppression and assessment of structural integrity for gauging whether or not a building is safe to search.
CERT training also focuses on “disaster management,” which is a way of structuring leadership during a catastrophe.
Commenting on disaster management, Anthofer said, “We train people to understand that, in a disaster, leadership is very top-down. You follow the directions of your leader — you can’t go rogue.”
Another crucial portion of the CERT training is that of triage – that is, the split-second assessment of injuries and subsequent rationing of medical supplies and attention. Finally, beyond the training, responders select who will be best served by medical assistance and who is beyond help.
Trainees are also prepared for the psychological pressure that they may face during a disaster.
Anthofer characterizes this last part as teaching people “how you take care of yourself … because these responders will be witness to horrific things.”
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