Profile by kendra evans by Freestyle Academy

t All Started With a Dog A Profile of Rick Van Mell By Kendra Evans

n 2001, RickVan Mell began walking his new golden retriever puppy, Teak, to Bubb Park. Every day he would see children skipping off to Bubb Elementary School with their mothers and fathers trailing behind. Sometimes the children would stop to ask if they could pet Teak and play with her. The children were happy to go to school, knowing they would be able to play with Teak on the way. Soon this morning greeting became a daily ritual. As time went on, Rick began to get to know the parents of the kids walking to school, and he became an important part of the community. Although Teak died in 2013, Rick continues her legacy of bringing joy to the community. He helps out at Bubb Elementary School’s reenactment of Williamsburg, he helps organize neighborhood potlucks, and he even auctions off a day trip around the bay in his sailboat for the Bubb School Walk-a-thon fundraiser. While all of these affairs are great for the community, one of the most important things that he does is participate CERT, or Community Emergency Response Team, which helps communities prepare for earthquakes and other emergencies. arthquakes have plagued California since before the early days of its existence, and have been devastating to the landscape and livelihoods of its citizens.

E 2

Children are told from a young age to “duck and cover” when an earthquake hits and every one is told to have first aid and emergency kits contain-

ing extra water and other supplies in their homes for if and when a disaster strikes, but what if a person is injured beyond basic first aid? Or what if someone is trapped in their home because of a disaster? This where CERT comes in. CERT’s job is to educate communities on what to do before, during, and after a quake, and help assist the community when an emergency occurs. an Mell grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and before he became surrounded by the community, he was surrounded by sailing. He recalls, “I was raised on boats. I was told the first word I learned was

boat, and the first time I took a step was walking back to the boat having gotten off of it. This was when I was literally taken aboard in a hammock as an infant. I’ve been sailing ever since” (Van Mell). He also got his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science from Dartmouth and Master of Science from Northwestern. He now pursues his passion for working with others and helping the community. He states, “I enjoy bringing people with different skills together to accomplish a common goal. That’s a really rewarding thing to do. I like to be able to let people do what they can do best, contribute, and then everybody celebrates when we’ve succeeded” (Van Mell). To fulfill this passion of bringing people together, Van Mell does as much as possible to help the community. As his wife, Sandy Van Mell, says, “He’s up and dressed before I’m even out of bed. He’s a go getter, he is up and at’em early and he’s not home a lot during the day. He’s either at meetings or helping people so he keeps himself very busy” (Van Mell). He also used to help his friend, Eric Lipanovich, with a Halloween haunt every year. When talking about his work experience with Rick, Eric explains, “He’s fun. He’s very good at organizing things. I think that’s his natural talent, his training and his vocation for so many years” (Lipanovich). He occupies his time by working

with many people to achieve goals and make the community a better place. ick prepares for helping out in emergencies by participating in CERT exercises. One such exercise took place at Moffett Field not too long ago. The exercise was set up to be as realistic to a real emergency as possible, so CERT members would be sufficiently prepared. According to Sandy Van Mell, “They had done it in a far more realistic way this time so it simulated an actual emergency much better than it ever has before. They were teaching people individual things this time and it was all an actual process that might have happened” (Van Mell). According to Rick, everyone was split into groups that went around Moffett Field trying to find different situations that could happen in a real emergency. Sometimes they had to clean up de-

bris and other times they had to treat people for mild and severe injuries. Every time a group found a situation they reported back to their “neighborhood command post”.

command post and had a ham radio operator at each of the command posts just as we would in a real emergency. So it was a full scale operation and I was the guy that wrote most of it! I guess they put me in that position to see if it would really work” (Van Mell). Rick planned and helped run the entire operation so that CERT would be better prepared for an emergency, which shows how dedicated he is to the community. He makes sure that everyone will be ready to go so that the city has its best chance in an actual emergency. ust as CERT members prepare for assisting people in an emergency, individuals should prepare for the inevitable as well. Before the emergency happens, it is important to make a first aid kit for you family that contains supplies such as bandages, ice packs, and extra medication if need. Making sure you have extra water and

“He’s fun. He’s very good at organizing things. I think that’s his natural talent, his training and his vocation for so many years.” (Lipanovich)

here was Rick in all of this? He was the “operation section chief ”, or second in command for the whole operation. Rick recounts, “I was responsible for all of the four neighborhood command posts. We had a total of sixteen combination mentors or trained CERT teachers who were helping the command posts and teams. Plus we had the Mountain View Communication Ham Radio folks set up their own

non-perishable food in case the electricity is down is also critical. Janice McCann and Betsey Shand, authors of Surviving Natural Disasters, explain, “Even though communications are cut off at the local level, it will still be possible to call out of the immediately affected area on long distance” (McCann 15). This can be really important, especially if you or a family member is seriously injured and you need to access medical records or insurance policies quickly. They also suggests that you give your contact person copies of any family documents such as photos, and descriptions of everyone in your family, especially children, in case you get separated in the emergency. When a real emergency occurs, Rick had this advice for anyone who is physically and mentally able to help out: “‘Start where you stand.’ The first thing to do is center yourself. Check that you’re physically okay, get your emotions under control, and then you can help the nearest person to you, and move on from there” (Van Mell). In an emergency, these tips could really help you when assisting family members or other people in the 4 community.

ne time Rick had to help out in the community in a real emergency was during a fierce winter storm. As Rick puts it, “I was involved in activating our Cuesta Park Neighborhood CERT to respond to a severe winter storm that downed trees, damaged houses and clogged drains” (Van Mell). According to Rick, the first thing CERT does in an emergency is put the word out about what happened to see if anyone is around and able to help out. Most of the damage was just clogged gutters and drains, although a tree did fall onto and break someone’s front porch, and another tree almost completely blocked a road. Luckily, city people arrived and were able to help clean it up. hile it may not have been a major emergency and no one got seriously injured, it is still good that Rick and the CERT team were able to help in several locations, and were even “recognized by the Mayor for our assistance to the community,” as Rick states. Helping the community is just one of the many things Rick does.

ther things Rick has wanted to do is to travel to Antarctica because as he puts it, “it’s the only continent I’ve not been on. It’s beautiful and challenging and I would use the word awesome” (Van Mell). Rick is still seeking out new adventures like those he has had while serving the community. He states that if he wasn’t in CERT, he would probably be sailing all over and traveling with his wife. “Sandy and I would like to travel and spend more time visiting grandchildren,” Rick says, “and you know, whatever else comes along that sounds like it would be fun” (Van Mell). New adventures await him, much like his experiences in CERT. Those experiences might never have happened, however, if he hadn’t walked Teak every day back in 2001. I guess you could say, it all started with a dog.

Works Cited “Basic Disaster Supplies Kit.” Basic Disaster Supplies Kit. Ready.gov, 5 October 2015. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. “Community Emergency Response Teams.” Community Emergency Response Teams. Department of Homeland Security, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. Lipanovich, Eric. Personal Interview. 27 Sept. 2015 McCann, Janice, and Betsy Shand. Surviving Natural Disasters: How to Prepare for Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornados, Floods, Wildfires, Thunder storms, Blizzards, Tsunamis, Volcanic Eruptions, and Other Calamities. Salem, Or.: DIMI, 1995. Print. Van Mell, Rick. Personal interview. 12 Sept. 2015. Van Mell, Rick. Personal interview. 2 Oct. 2015. Van Mell, Sandy. Personal interview. 19 Sept. 2015. Zimmermann, By Kim Ann. “Hurricane Katrina: Facts, Damage & Aftermath.” LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.