How we help an urban area

[flyguy06]

Ok, I want to get my cadets active in ES. We meet in the heart of a metropolitan city (Atlanta). My cadets arent really interested in going to the woods or survival stuff, plus we dont really have the resources for that anyway.

We do have access to the county Fire department Headquarters. I want to start a relationship with them. They have a big conference room we may be able to meet at. They are also headqutered on a municipal airport which is the environment I want us to be in.

In exchange for them lettingus use their facilities, I want to be able to ofer them something. What type of things do you think  we can offer them? What type of urban ES stuff can we get the cadets involved in? So, instead of getting the call and getting 24 hour gear and going out to the woods, I wonder what we can offer the urban type units? I know back in 1992 when we had a major storm, we manned the EOC downtown. thats was fun. We assisted people and took messages and things lke that. I wonder what things we can do today though?

[Eclipse]

First, you need to contact your state director or Wing ES officer to discuss any existing MOU's which may preclude / authorize / encourage local ES activity.

You should also discuss your intentions with the Group CC & ESO (if you have them).

Next, take a stock of your members' current ES qualifications, and how those may or may not intersect with the anticipated requests from the FD or the city at large.  Bear in mind that decisions regarding use of a facility may be out of the hands of the local chief, and you should probably plan a joint presentation to city officials.

Remember, the physical ability to perform a function does not mean CAP will authorize you to do it, or it may require you have specific CAP quals in order to be authorized for mission duty.  I could see MSA's being useful in an EOC, but because of rules we have regarding comms, MRO's may or may not be allowed to play on their radios, etc.  Its got to be within CAP's mission for us to play.

As an example, after recent tornadoes here, CAP flew aerial recon missions and provided photo product and transport to a federal agency, however on the ground our state EMA was the lead agency and our MOU precludes local agencies from calling CAP directly once the state EMA is involved.  Further, the local municipalities requested assistance from a CAP unit in its town,  unfortunately, not only was there no one in the unit qualified to do any Ground ES at all (very few even GES), but the mission they asked for was cleanup of debris which is something CAP does not do.

Once you have a handle on the above, familiarize yourself with the NOC call-in procedures and reimbursement policies and rules so you can speak from authority.  I would again suggest your State Director  get involved in this as they know the rules and have some say in spending money.

If your unit is not currently ground capable, you might consider a group-level agreement to respond in this area while you ramp up your own qualifications.

The last thing you want to do it make promises you know you can't keep and then be left saying "no" when something "exciting" happens in your town.

[flyguy06]

You are soooooo right about that. I want to come with somethingto offer. Right now, I am the only ES quaklified person in my unit. But I have done the SET so I get the others at least GES. I am a mission Observer but I dont know if I can teach MSA or not.

The conferesnce room is used for thepublic anyway, so that shouldnt be too much of a headache. the problem is they dont like to open it up at night and we meet at night. There is a mini police preceinct at the airport where retired polices officers patrol the area. They have keys to the Fire dept. HQ bldg . I am going to try and arrange for them to let us in and lock up at night if the county agrees with that plan.

[RiverAux]

I'm not sure you're going to be able to offer them much specifically, but it doesn't hurt asking.

But, your larger question of CAP ES activities in urban areas is worth some discussion.  Our ground team training is pretty focused on wilderness SAR and ELTs, neither of which are going to be of much interest in urban areas.  Perhaps we need to add a few urban lost-person search tasks to our training?

One thing that could come in useful is shelter management.  That is useful skill both following disasters (rare) and more typical emergencies such as extreme heat or cold situations.  The Red Cross would be your primary partner in that area.   

[flyguy06]

Funny you shoudl mention that. One of our Squadron members has a lady friend who works for the American Red Cross and he brought her to the meeting last week. She is going to help us get a First responder course set up

[afgeo4]

Ok, I want to get my cadets active in ES. We meet in the heart of a metropolitan city (Atlanta). My cadets arent really interested in going to the woods or survival stuff, plus we dont really have the resources for that anyway.

We do have access to the county Fire department Headquarters. I want to start a relationship with them. They have a big conference room we may be able to meet at. They are also headqutered on a municipal airport which is the environment I want us to be in.

In exchange for them lettingus use their facilities, I want to be able to ofer them something. What type of things do you think  we can offer them? What type of urban ES stuff can we get the cadets involved in? So, instead of getting the call and getting 24 hour gear and going out to the woods, I wonder what we can offer the urban type units? I know back in 1992 when we had a major storm, we manned the EOC downtown. thats was fun. We assisted people and took messages and things lke that. I wonder what things we can do today though?

Have you thought of focusing training on DR? Have you thought of forming a CERT team? SAR is pretty irrelevant in high density urban areas because most see the aircraft when it goes down and local first responders are able to locate and deal with the incident rather effectively. However, urban areas are often in need of Disaster services. Being prepared and being able to prepare your neighbors/community are the best ways to assist. It is also a good deterrent of terrorism.

The less of an impact a terrorist attack will have on us, the attractive of a tactic it will be.

[Eclipse]

CAP doesn't deploy CERT teams.

The training may be helpful or complement CAP training, but it won't get his people operational from a CAP standpoint.

He needs to ramp up GTM's and base staff in order to be able to answer the phone. 

Why?  Because that's what we do and have. Whether its specifically appropriate to an urban environment is besides the point.

That doesn't mean that they can't do CERT-esque duties, as long as the NOC approved the mission.

[afgeo4]

CAP doesn't deploy CERT teams.

The training may be helpful or complement CAP training, but it won't get his people operational from a CAP standpoint.

He needs to ramp up GTM's and base staff in order to be able to answer the phone. 

Why?  Because that's what we do and have. Whether its specifically appropriate to an urban environment is besides the point.

That doesn't mean that they can't do CERT-esque duties, as long as the NOC approved the mission.

There is nothing in regulations that precludes CAP from acting as a CERT team when needed. Furthermore, the primary duty of a CERT team is education of community. A role that CAP units can certainly perform. Not to mention that CERT certifications do carry some weight with local and federal agencies, at least when it comes to DR.

I too live in a very dense urban area (NYC) and I can promise you that we don't and wont do ground team work here. Why? Because it's absurd. What do you want us to do? Respond to calls of lost tourists in Central Park? UDF teams are organized to shut off whatever EPIRBS and ELTs may go off, but GTM? Yeah, it's nice to have it for a badge, but there's no real need for it in large cities and never will be.

[Eclipse]

There is nothing in regulations that precludes CAP from acting as a CERT team when needed.

The NOC may when the agency asks them for support and indicates what their duty may be.

I think you're missing my point here.  I won't argue that our GT ratings are more inclined to non-urban situations, (though I would also argue that the self-sufficiency instilled in GTM's is more the point than the camping part.). The issue is that GTM is the only thing we have internal to CAP that is even close to deployable in those situations.

If River's FD calls the NOC and gets a mission assignment, and his people don't have CAP ES ground qualifications, they can have all the CERT training in the world and CAP will not allow them to go.

There's certainly room for discussion that there needs to be a "UDR" rating, akin to UDF, for situations such as this, but today we don't have one.

I know some IC's will allow UDF-qual'ed members to deploy in these arenas, but that makes me nervous, especially if we're talking trainees, because the UDF-T fam/prep is a phone tree and some pencils.

Arguments could also be made that putting MSA's in a shelter to help is appropriate, I'll entertain those points, anyway, but until we get something specific to the situation, we have to go with what we have.

YMMV, but I know from experience that good GTM-1's and L's can be dropped just about anywhere and be a mission asset within CAP's operational limitations. The further down you go, or the harder you push into trainee status and the more time you spend managing the team's needs instead of your customers.  If nothing else I have a pretty good idea that they will be self-sufficient for their own safety and personal needs (food, clothing, equipment), so they can concentrate on their duties.

The other risk, and this is internal to CAP from a retention standpoint, is if you point CAP people at CERT training, local EMA's and similar, you stand a chance that they will see more regular hands on involvement with less bureaucracy, and decide to spend their free time there.

I've seen it happen all too often.

In comment to our being needed in large cities like NY, Chicago or LA.  The simple answer is, we're not.  Those municipalities have more than enough ES/EMS capabilities with plenty of professional people. Where we get the work in my wing is the mid-to-smaller towns and villages where the resources are thinner and they depend much more on mutual aid.

[sarmed1]

A few thoughts come to mind.

Dont sell a capability you dont have, dont tell people you can do SAR/DR or any multitude of other tasks untill you have the personnel, training and equipment to do it (and probablly test the theory out in a SAREX type atmosphere, to work the kinks out)

GES is not even a base level of training (its again more of an orientation to how we do things)  I will always reccomend GTM (at least GTM2) training be the backbone of any program, then "specialize" from there based on your target missions and customer. Yes given there may not be a "need" in your home town, but CAP is a bigger organization than your backyard, there is at least an entire wing you are also supporting and may be called upon to deploy mission assets with.  I would shy away from CERT as you base or only certification, most EMA, Fire, EMS and Police do not look on it as a true certification (at best its an awareness level training)  It's an ok addition ot GTM qual, but it would be better to get seperate trainnig/qualification in the inclusive components...(ie hazmat, first aid, fire suppresison, USAR)

Regardless of what direction you go with I would include the following as course work even if all you do is get everyone GES "qualified"
CPR/AED certification
First Aid Certification (40hour is the best)
Hazardous Materials Awareness level
ICS 200 level
NIMS 700 & NRP 800
Some kind of Intro to Terrorism/WMD

Disaster Relief ops would still be a good nich to try to train for.  CAP has not seen fit to develop a specific "disaster relief" qualification (I imagine in part due to the varied mission specific needs by geographic location) but there are a number of posts here on some of the facets to work on...most are safety related (ie keep your butt out of danger rather than an operational "rescue" capability).  The Red Cross has a couple of courses that are very usefull:
     Intro to disaster Operations
     Shelter Management
     Damage Assessment

If you are going to stick with the "CAP" mission.  I would make sure you can field a number of qualified (and capable and equiped) mission radio operators.  Equally everyone should have a good idea of how CAP aviation assets are deployed and utilized and how to interface with them.  Not to make us out to be anything uber-special, but fixed wing SAR and observation platforms is one thing we pretty much have the market on.  SAR guys are a dime a dozen, but finding a SAR guy that has the direct line to the overhead airplane makes us a bit more valuable, be it on the ground or in the EOC. (kind of like in Army land with TAC-P/FAC)

mk

[SStradley]

Ok, I want to get my cadets active in ES. We meet in the heart of a metropolitan city (Atlanta). My cadets arent really interested in going to the woods or survival stuff, plus we dont really have the resources for that anyway.

We do have access to the county Fire department Headquarters. I want to start a relationship with them. They have a big conference room we may be able to meet at. They are also headqutered on a municipal airport which is the environment I want us to be in.

In exchange for them lettingus use their facilities, I want to be able to ofer them something. What type of things do you think  we can offer them? What type of urban ES stuff can we get the cadets involved in? So, instead of getting the call and getting 24 hour gear and going out to the woods, I wonder what we can offer the urban type units? I know back in 1992 when we had a major storm, we manned the EOC downtown. thats was fun. We assisted people and took messages and things lke that. I wonder what things we can do today though?

I think your and the cadets interest in ES is exceptionally commendable.  I recommend that you begin by building up your own ES skills (and ratings).  As you know cadets (until 18) are restricted to ground ops.  Therefore, to lead them in ES you should learn the skills (and ratings) of UDF and GTL as well as MSA and FLM.

Don't sell these skills short.  If you want to deploy in an emergency, you need to be able to function for at least 24 hours without outside support (GT3), and 72 hours is a more usefull (realistic) time frame.  Consider this from the (ourside CAP) IC's view.  If you go to the Fire dept. and let them know that you have a team of trained MSA's who can assist his Branch Directors in any number of tasks, that they all have trained thro ICS-200, and are self supporting for 72 hours, you are more likely to get a call and a job.  Even, if that job is to answer phones and get drinks at the start.  As your cadets prove their capabilities, they will soon be looked to for other jobs.   However, it the IC thinks "just what I need (not), a bunch of kids under foot; how will I feed them, what are their needs ... The answer will be "Thanks but no thanks".

An important part of this is training with your "client".  Let the cadets prove how they can help before there is a need.

But in order to do this you need to lead them.  And in order for you to lead them in Ground and Mission Base skills you need to learn them and get the ratings yourself.

Again, it sounds like you have a great opportunity here.  Go for it.

[isuhawkeye]

http://www.shop.eri-online.com/product.sc?categoryId=1&productId=8
here you go

[flyguy06]

Ok, I want to get my cadets active in ES. We meet in the heart of a metropolitan city (Atlanta). My cadets arent really interested in going to the woods or survival stuff, plus we dont really have the resources for that anyway.

We do have access to the county Fire department Headquarters. I want to start a relationship with them. They have a big conference room we may be able to meet at. They are also headqutered on a municipal airport which is the environment I want us to be in.

In exchange for them lettingus use their facilities, I want to be able to ofer them something. What type of things do you think  we can offer them? What type of urban ES stuff can we get the cadets involved in? So, instead of getting the call and getting 24 hour gear and going out to the woods, I wonder what we can offer the urban type units? I know back in 1992 when we had a major storm, we manned the EOC downtown. thats was fun. We assisted people and took messages and things lke that. I wonder what things we can do today though?

Have you thought of focusing training on DR? Have you thought of forming a CERT team? SAR is pretty irrelevant in high density urban areas because most see the aircraft when it goes down and local first responders are able to locate and deal with the incident rather effectively. However, urban areas are often in need of Disaster services. Being prepared and being able to prepare your neighbors/community are the best ways to assist. It is also a good deterrent of terrorism.

The less of an impact a terrorist attack will have on us, the attractive of a tactic it will be.

Would you mind telling me what a CERT team is? I dont do well with acronyms I have never heard of

[flyguy06]

I realize that everyone on here likes to type shorthand and use abbreviations, but when you are discussing a topic with someone that has been out of the game for a while and youusde acronyms like CERT, MSA, and others, you have to clarify what those mean. because Ihave no idea.

I used to be a Ground team Leader back in 1994 before the SQTR's came out. I am an Infantry Officer so I dont think I'll have too much problem with GTM3 and GTL qualifications.

You are right. I would not sell a capability I do not have. I like the idea of getting basic first aid, AED, and shelter management training. I think we could help our local EMA and Red Cross with any trainingneeds they have.

Thanks for the tips guys. I really appreciate them.

[Eclipse]

CERT - Community Emergency Response Team

is a group of volunteer emergency workers who have received basic training in disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team operations. They are designed to act as an auxiliary to existing emergency responders in the event of a major disaster.

It shoudl be noted that the order of care for a CERT situation is generally "self", "family", "neighborhood".

CERT is as much about not being a burden as being a help.  The former can be just as important in a big disaster situation.

[afgeo4]

CERT - Community Emergency Response Team

is a group of volunteer emergency workers who have received basic training in disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team operations. They are designed to act as an auxiliary to existing emergency responders in the event of a major disaster.

It shoudl be noted that the order of care for a CERT situation is generally "self", "family", "neighborhood".

CERT is as much about not being a burden as being a help.  The former can be just as important in a big disaster situation.

Noted. That is actually the order for all first responders. It is the FIRST thing they teach you in First Aid as well. At all costs, avoid becoming another victim.

[afgeo4]

I realize that everyone on here likes to type shorthand and use abbreviations, but when you are discussing a topic with someone that has been out of the game for a while and youusde acronyms like CERT, MSA, and others, you have to clarify what those mean. because Ihave no idea.

I used to be a Ground team Leader back in 1994 before the SQTR's came out. I am an Infantry Officer so I dont think I'll have too much problem with GTM3 and GTL qualifications.

You are right. I would not sell a capability I do not have. I like the idea of getting basic first aid, AED, and shelter management training. I think we could help our local EMA and Red Cross with any trainingneeds they have.

Thanks for the tips guys. I really appreciate them.

CERT - Community Emergency Response Team (all volunteer DR teams based on neighborhood lines)
MSA - Mission Staff Assistant (general assistant to all at a mission base).

Odds are, your local Red Cross wont want your help. They get funding based on membership, so they will try to recruit you. They will tell you that only Red Cross certified trainers are allowed to teach Red Cross classes. They will probably charge you for classes you take yourself too.

[Eclipse]

Odds are, your local Red Cross wont want your help.

Odds are you would be wrong.

My state now regularly performs this exact type of assistance to the ARC, specifically providing shelter personnel and performing disaster assessment missions.

http://ilcapnews.blogs.com/il_cap_news_blog/2007/08/civil-air-patro.html

[flyguy06]

CERT - Community Emergency Response Team

is a group of volunteer emergency workers who have received basic training in disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and team operations. They are designed to act as an auxiliary to existing emergency responders in the event of a major disaster.

It shoudl be noted that the order of care for a CERT situation is generally "self", "family", "neighborhood".

CERT is as much about not being a burden as being a help.  The former can be just as important in a big disaster situation.

Thanks. I have never heard of them, but after reading the definition, it makes me want to ask a totally unrelated question.

Since a lot of CAP members (especiually the ones that post on here) are interested in Emergency Responce, why dont you all join CERT instead of CAP? Not trying to be insulting. I am genuinlly curious about that. It seems that they do mainly what you ES gurus like.

[flyguy06]

I just did some reading up on CERT. It seems a lotof the surrounding counties in my area including our uints county have CERT training. It looks interesting and something I am going to look into. We could man EOC's and help out during Hurricane season or when severe wintter weather hits here.