First combined adult and teen CERT drill

OPHS Teen CERT class completes their first drill at the Ventura County Fire Regional Training Center

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Leonie Humig/Talon

The Teen CERT team successfully completed the first combined drill. Members were placed into search, rescue, fire and medical teams. CERT members on the medical team give medical attention to ‘victims’ of the drill.

Cal Fire deemed Santa Ana winds, single-digit air moisture and dry brush as conditions that make for perfect fire weather. Fire season is here, and the Community Emergency Response Team is preparing. 

At Oak Park High School, students are able to take a semester-long Teen CERT course. It ends with a final drill, and upon completion, the students receive the CERT Certification. In the past, the CERT drill could be seen on campus after school.

This year’s 10th CERT class at OPHS marked the first time that the final drill was at a different site.

“It was the first time we had the Adult CERT and the Teen CERT work together to achieve the common goal of being the first responders, working together in an ICS [Incident Command System] and working at an equal level,” OPHS CERT teacher Brenda Pasqua said.

The drill was held at the Ventura County Fire Regional Training Center in Camarillo on Oct. 17.

“I feel this drill was much more realistic. The reality is, during a disaster, either an earthquake, a fire, floods, the adults and teens are going to experience it together,” Pasqua said. “What made this drill unique is they got to work together for the first time ever, respect each other’s training and actually get through the problem-solving skills together on an equal level.”

According to Pasqua, in the past, the teens and adults would work in their teams, but separate from each other. While they would practice the exact same procedures, the two groups were always with teammates they knew. This drill let the adults and teens work with people they had never met before.

CERT exists all over the United States. While the training is the same everywhere, different regions integrate information on how to respond to disasters that occur in their proximity. An integral part of the California CERT training is how to deal with fires and earthquakes.

“Right now during fire season, CERT plays a huge role. We train our community members to understand that you need to be prepared. It teaches us to educate our neighbours, Woolsey fire taught us that a lot of people could do a better job preparing themselves and families for disasters,” Pasqua said. “It taught us how to be more relaxed, calm and ready for when a disaster does hit. It basically gave us knowledge, which is power for our community members.”

Teen CERT member and freshman Kiana Padron said that the course taught in school is helpful in the outside world.

“In the case of an emergency I am able to help people with the knowledge I get from this class,” Padron said.

During the drill, the members were divided into Search, Rescue, Fire and Medical teams. The teams searched for, triaged, recovered and medically attended victims. Padron was placed in the Search Team alongside Frank Salazar, an Adult CERT member.

“Today’s importance is to really get your hands on, to experience the understanding of what really goes on in a situation,” Salazar said. “A lot of people are not aware of how much detail goes into this.”

During this drill, the adults and teens were seen on an equal level.

“It was good because we could work with people who are older than us and get a feeling of how they act in a situation like that and they could get the feeling of how we act,” sophomore Ethan Saul said.

Salazar saw the combined drill as successful.

“They [the teens] did awesome. It was a great thing,” he said. “It’s great to incorporate the kids in with it because the fact that they are just as involved as we are as adults.”