PREPARING FOR THE INEVITABLE A profile on Mike Sanders
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uring the night of August 24th, 2014, an earthquake with the magnitude of 6.0 hit the city of Napa, California. It struck at 3:20 a.m. local time, with over one million people feeling the effects of the shaking. This earthquake was the largest tremor in over twenty five years in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the results ending in one death and over 200 injured, it’s hard not to think back and wonder what could have been prevented to minimize such costs. A study from the Red Cross
By Max Evans
shows that only 17% of Americans are prepared for an earthquake. Could many of those injuries have been prevented if more of the civilians involved in the earthquake were properly prepared? While it is almost impossible to tell when these kind of disasters may strike, being properly prepared by having the right tools, supplies, and skills before the disaster happens can dramatically help the situation diffuse and prevent extra complications, such as injuries or deaths. This is the idea that Mike
Sanders, the Emergency Service Coordinator at Los Altos Hills, believes in. Mike Sanders, who runs the Community Emergency Response Team known as CERT, as well as many other emergency preparedness classes, has an intense drive that aims to teach the community how to prepare before a disaster occurs. There is always that uneasy, inevitable feeling that misfortune could strike at any moment with very little to no warning. Natural disasters could happen at any time or on any
Articles hanging around Mike’s office.
The signs used to show who the CERT members are.
day, so it is clear that it is import- Hills about how to react in times disasters from the past couant to be prepared for them. As of disaster, as well as help those ple of centuries have taken an Dave Evans, a CERT supervisor citizens take precautions and get extremely large toll on human and member, stated during my the proper training before some- losses and injuries in the United interview, it is “not a matter of thing dramatic actually happens. States. Over 12 thousand people ‘if’, but ‘when’ these disasters During times of tranquility, it were killed and over 26 million strike.” These incidents are inevi- may seem that having extra people were victims of natural table and sure to happen, and to equipment, food, and water is disasters during the years 1980 affect the average person some troublesome and unnecessary, through 2010. These events time during their include everything life. This is the from spontaneous reason why the earthquakes and Community Emerroaring storms to gency Response even wildfires and Team classes are droughts. What’s so important. The crazy, however, is official website for that it is most likely CERT describes it that a large numas a program that ber of lives (and in“educates people juries) could have about disaster been prevented preparedness for if the average hazards that may citizen was more impact their area prepared for those and trains them random times in basic disaster Mike posing for a potential profile picture inside his office. where something response skills, dramatic happens. such as fire safety, light search as earthquakes, floods, and the A poll taken two years ago and rescue, team organization, like are rare occurrences. Howev- shows that only 36% of Ameriand disaster medical operations.” er, it is only when the inevitable cans are prepared for natural diMike Sanders teaches these CERT happens and an incident strikes sasters, with 64% not having the classes, as well as other classes that the extra precautions taken proper tools, food, or water in that range from a few hours truly help calm the situation and the event of an emergency disaslong to several weeks, in order make things easier to progress. ter. In fact, only 50% of people to train the citizens of Los Altos Statistics show that have created an evacuation or an
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emergency plan. With such large mined citizens are the ones who since he was about twenty years percentages of how little people will grab their flashlights, head old. As Mike explained during an have in terms of precautions for out into unknown conditions, interview, “we consolidated after disasters, it’s no wonder that and shine their light to bring twenty years in Morgan Hill, and there are several deaths and inju- clarity where there is none. I started doing public education ries for most events. How many A retired fire captain with [the] county fire.” As stated lives that could have been previously, he became the Fire saved or how many injuCaptain in his department and ross - the ac e m co ht ig m e “H ries that could have been kept that title for thirty years. serious a as m hi t ee m u prevented is impossible Without much of a mentor first time yo fun a of nd ki ly al tu to tell, however, it is clear but rather his own personal ac guy, but he’s t ou ab s ly care that this could have been desire to teach people what to loving guy, who real e ik M to pth avoided given the that the do to take care of themselves le. There’s a lot of de op pe ly te ia ed proper precautions were - Mike started learn how to off as imm that might not come made. This is the idea that teach classes by taking ‘train ow t when you get to kn bu , nt re pa ap Mike and his fellow memthe trainer’ classes. During how much sort of e iz al re u yo y, gu e th bers in the CERT program these times, Mike would also ter.” ac ar ch s hi in is s es believe in; while disasters spend his time outside of richn are inevitable, the risk and his Fire Captain work doing damages can be greatly reother activities to support Dave Evans duced through training and the community and fellow preparing, taught through people. He became inthe community classes that of thirty years, volved with an organization by the CERT members attend. So, Mike Sanders has an interesting the name of Alisa Ann Ruch Burn when a catastrophe happens, history, which lead to him beFoundation through becoming Mike and the team he spent so coming the Emergency Service a speaker and teaching burn many hours teaching and leadCoordinator at Los Altos Hills. awareness prevention to kids, ing, will be able to go out and do Before coming to the Santa adults, or whoever would listen. what they can to help the comClara County Fire Department, Along side that, he attended a munity. These caring and deterhe worked at Morga n Hill summer camp for burn-injured
Mike discussing with his fellow CERT members. These are regular meetings with the members.
children where he was a unit leader for twenty years. Dealing with mostly teenagers who had burn injuries, the fire captain was able to help the kids relax and have a fun time for a week. As time went on, Mike Sanders continued to take classes on public speaking and how to teach classes, so that when he retired from his fire captain position, he was asked if he would like to become the Emergency Service Coordinator in Los Altos Hills, which he agreed to. When asked what his influence was to become the Emergency Service Coordinator and start his own CERT community, he stated that “I like to have fun in my classes, I think people that attend classes should be entertained as they also learn, so that’s probably my prime thing.” Mike’s past shows that he is driven to help the community as much as he can in his life, through the amazing amount of differing instances in which he has put others before himself. As Richard Green, Mike’s go-to guy and CERT partner, said about Mike, “He’s concerned about people, not about things. He’s a people person.” When I first met Mike af-
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ter requesting to interview him through several emails, I was very excited to get to know him and his backstory, as I had heard of a lot of interesting things about him. When I first walked into that cold room and shook his hand and introduced myself for the first time, I knew that he would be a very interesting subject. His blunt but friendly jokes he told throughout the conversation made me feel a lot more comfortable during the observation progress. He would swear a decent amount throughout our conversations, but only in a matter that felt appropriate and not overused. Even while obliging my questions, he was all over the room, responding to emails, answering phone calls, talking to his partner Richard, and eating lunch all at the same time. “You have to be able to multitask,” he said when I asked how he’s able to survive being so busy. It was later that week after meeting him for the first time that I got to see his public speaking and friendly character in action. Late one Wednesday night, I drove down to the Los Altos Hills’ Town Hall to watch and
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photograph a meeting of the CERT members. The Town Hall was a large room with plenty of chairs, all directed at the speaker, Mike Sanders. A projector overhead showed off several charts, maps, and input sheets that the CERT members had to take mind of. It was this instance where I was able to see Mike’s character in action, with him interacting with all his fellow members. Even before the meeting, he went up to each individual and shook their hand, called them by their first name perfectly, and asked how they were. The large sense of community was clearly apparent throughout the entire meeting. Even though it seemed as if everyone knew each other already, there was also an activity where everyone got to introduce themselves and say what zone they represented. I stood back in awe as I watched Mike speak without hesitation or fumble a single time in front of the large crowd, interestingly enough, in the same manner he spoke to me when I first met him. Mike showed me he is a straightforward man who treats everyone the same, and talks the same
Mike and the gang posing for pictures, taken inside his office.
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Mike leaning against the station’s firetruck. whether on a one-to-one basis or in front of an entire audience of members. What lies ahead cannot be certain, but Mike has a few ideas of what he will be doing in the next few years. Recently moving to a newly remodeled house, he plans to work for a while longer as the Emergency Service Coordinator. He says that he “would like continue the growth of CERT, but also bring in new things for [the members] to learn.” Richard tells me that since Mike likes to travel and has a lot of timeshares, he will be spending a lot of time going around the world and exploring
it with his wife and children. With Mike being retired and traveling, the CERT members will not have their leader to help them in case of a disaster. However, Mike has already given them the batteries to power their own flashlights, so that the CERT members, with all their new skills and tools, may go out into the unknown and shine a path for those who cannot. Through my observations and experiences, I have found Mike Sanders to be a hard-working, dedicated individual who want his audience to have a good time as well as learn something important. When I asked Mike for any final thoughts on how proud
he is with the CERT community and his future plans, he replied: “I think CERT has been an excellent asset to this community as far as having people be prepared in the event of a disaster. If it happens, we’ll be ready. If it doesn’t, we’ll be ready. But the hardest thing is to keep training.”
“I think CERT has been an excellent asset to this community as far as having people be prepared in the event of a disaster. If it happens, we’ll be ready. If it doesn’t, we’ll be ready. But the hardest thing is to keep training.” Mike Sanders
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