Posted on 05/02/2015 12:30:23 PM PDT by flamberge
As before, this session was held in a city facility and lasted for most of the day. Almost all of the previous attendees from session 1 returned for session 2. There were a small number of new students as well.
The morning portion went over Government responses to terrorist incidents; “Unit 8” of the training documents. This material comes straight from FEMA, and is mainly concerned with Chemical, Radiological, Biological, and Nuclear attacks. The FEMA managers seem to be obsessed with such possibilities.
This is rather curious, since even the training materials mention that 80% of terrorist actions in the last several decades have used bombs of once sort or another. Almost all other attacks have used conventional weapons, mainly firearms and other light infantry weapons.
[There have been thousands of terrorist incidents in the past thirty years but less than a half dozen used chemical or biological weapons. There was one reported incident in San Diego which allegedly used radioactive medical waste in an explosive package; that operation was obviously never carried out, if in fact it existed. There has never yet been a nuclear device (bomb) used by a terrorist group.]
There was absolutely no mention of religious or national support or motivations for terrorist groups. Apparently terrorism is a “man-caused disaster” that just happens to “anyone, anywhere, anytime”.
FEMA materials describe a standard set of pre-attack indicators for a terrorist action, and encourage people: ‘if you see something, say something”, but “do not attempt to stop a suspicious person”.
The instructors repeatedly emphasized that “CERT volunteers are not trained for counter-terrorist actions”, and should immediately leave dangerous areas if a terrorist action is in progress. The priority of volunteer safety reoccurs in all sections of the materials and all facets of instruction. Volunteers are not expected to be “first responders”, but are likely to be called up in the aftermath to render assistance to fire and rescue crews.
The afternoon session cover basic activities for first responders, in the event that CERT volunteers should find themselves in such a position. The scenarios for this section were concerned with accidents and natural disasters.
Responses to fire included practical training in the used of extinguishers. The class gathered outside in the parking lot and the local fire crew set up a pan filled with diesel fuel. Each member of the class paired with a buddy and took a turn at putting out the fire pan with a live extinguisher. A fine time was had by all.
The essential advice for non-professionals in this situation was “always work in pairs” and “if the fire gets bigger than a trash can blaze, just get out of the area”.
First Aid training was mostly concerned with triage during a mass casualty event. There was basic training on how to assess the severity of injuries and select patients for further attention. There was additional training on what to do for the patients unfortunate to be selected; this was how to clear blocked airways, stop bleeding, and treat for shock.
The instructor did not recommend CPR in any form, and mentioned that in a 25 year career as a medic he had only used this procedure twice.
The instructor and the course materials advise volunteers not to go beyond their training in assisting patients (e.g. do not administer medications or perform field surgery unless trained and certified for such procedures).
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