Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Community Response to Disaster story and photos by Joan Gould
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s wildfires raged through Bastrop County in 2011, Angie Fontenot, now the Tomball Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) facilitator, led a team of caretakers and animals from a research facility to safety as the encroaching flames threatened their homes and families. “The fire was four miles from the facility, and I had 21 staff members looking to me to take care of the animals they loved, but I knew nothing about fire, other than smoke kills them first,” Fontenot said. “I was calling firefighters asking, ‘What do I do? Please give me advice.’ “Our neighbors, our community should know how to respond,” Fontenot said. “I didn’t understand why we didn’t have programs to prepare for things like this.” In July 2015, Fontenot moved to the Houston area and learned about the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. She enrolled in a training course and soon after took on a more active role, becoming a CERT trainer and facilitator in the Tomball area. Fontenot has since led eight classes and trained more than 200 people in the CERT program. HELP IS AS CLOSE AS A NEIGHBOR When disaster hits, CERT volunteers are often first on the scene in their neighborhoods, workplaces, and churches. They use their knowledge and training to assess potentially hazardous situations and are equipped to provide immediate assistance. “One percent of our population is a first responder,” said Harris County Emergency Management Coordinator Mark Sloan. “That means the other 99% of us are looking to do something to take care of ourselves, our community, 18
Precinct4Update Fall/Winter 2019
and our families.” CERT volunteers are trained to complete a preliminary walk-through of the disaster scene and report their findings to first responders when they arrive on site. “Now first responders can get to the location that may need assistance faster, rather than doing it all from scratch,” Sloan said. The CERT program, a division of Citizen Corps, offers an eight-week, 24-hour training course taught by a variety of first responders and subject-matter experts, covering topics like disaster preparedness, fire suppression, basic medical treatment assessment and first aid, search and rescue techniques, and rescuer safety. Volunteers culminate their training with a disaster simulation and debriefing. “It’s Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for adults,” Sloan said. “It’s a refresher for things we may have learned in the past that we have forgotten. It’s a reminder that – first and foremost – can I take care of myself, my family, and my property? If I can do all those things and I do that successfully, then I know I’m capable of helping someone else.” Sloan emphasized that CERT training provides an opportunity for participants to understand their capabilities and strengths, so they can be aware of their comfort level in helping other people during life-threatening, highstress situations. Not everyone is comfortable assisting an injured person or strong enough to carry someone out of danger. A FORCE MULTIPLIER FOR PREPAREDNESS Participation in CERT isn’t limited to disaster response. CERT volunteers often assist local officials and
