Hello fellow CERT members,

Practice drills are held all the time. Just recently we had a simulated hurricane drill at Boca Winds that was attended by about 50 CERT members from around the area.

Those present from Addison were Me, Mel Waxman, Mervin Baranik, Sam Spiegel, Nannette Fisher and Dr. Alan Rosenthal. The drill was very realistic, "victims" were scattered around each one with a card attached to his or her wrist indicating a different injury. They ranged from broken bones to heart attacks and everything in between.

There was a triage area set-up to take care of the wounded that were brought in by search and rescue teams. We also had an IC, incident command, center set up to coordinate the rescue efforts. Those that were at the IC were equipped with personal and ham radios and were kept in constant contact with the search and rescue teams.

It was very unfortunate that many of our CERT members don't realize the importance of these drills. We need to continue to practice our skills so that when the time comes, we will know what to do and save lives. And after all, isn't that what we all joined CERT for? It certainly wasn't for the money.

I asked this once or twice before, if you or a loved one needed emergency help, would you want you to come to your aid?  I know that those of us that take advantage of these trainings could answer a very loud YES.

Sincerely,

Phil