(https://ihbanners.creativecirclemedia.com/www/delivery/ck.php? oaparams=2_bannerid=1156_zoneid=257_cb=65343c3bb4_oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mountainfreshh2o.com) LIHERALD. “:- Moda Cer dQ tO) (AWE NEED YOUR HELP — Support your hometown newspaper by making a donation. (/heraldsupport.htm|) CERT volunteers prep for the next Big One Emergency responders gather in Merrick to train Posted September 26, 2014 (Vuploads/original/1411759982_f9a.jpg) ‘Judy Ryan, the Nassau CERT incident command planning chief, and Eric Zausner, the CERT program deputy director at the OEM, ‘conferred during the rodeo. SCOTT BRINTON/HERALD By Scott Brinton (mailto:sbrinton@liherald.com) Sept. 21 was the 76th anniversary of the infamous Long Island Express of 1938, a massive Category 3 hurricane that slammed into the Island, New Jersey and much of New England with rare ferocity, Killing 800 people and causing $308 million in damage (the equivalent of $4.8 billion today), includingthe destruction of 57,000 homes. Last Saturday, 150 members of Community Emergency Response (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/OEM/CC/Cert/) teams from Nassau, Suffolk and ‘Westchester counties and New York City commemorated the disaster by preparing for the next possible monster storm, among other disasters. Assembling in seven teams, the CERT members, all volunteers, took part ina day-long training exercise at the Four Towns Fire Training Center in Merrick. The North Merrick Fire Department assisted throughout the day. The volunteers participated in a friendly competition, known as a rodeo, to test their emergency- response skills, ranging from incident command to medical triage, said Eric Zausner, the CERT Department deputy director at the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/oem/) which oversees the CERT program. Zausner said CERT began nationally in Los Angeles, with city officials who were developing emergency- preparedness plans in the event of an earthquake. In September 1985, an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale shook Mexico City to its core, killing 10,000 people and injuring 30,000. Los Angeles officials traveled to Mexico City to figure out what happened ~~ why there were so many deaths. What they often found was that survivors rushed into teetering buildings to look for or save victims and were crushed when the unstable buildings collapsed. What Los Angeles officials wanted to do was develop a citizens corps, similar to those in Japan, to help educate the public and work with officials during disasters to ensure people’s safety in a disaster. Thus, CERT was born. Now there are CERT programs across the country. OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU Schools head Pecora exudes Seaford Pride’ (/stories/schools-head-pecora-exudes-seaford-pride,108256) Bellmore-Merrick CHSD tennis courts open (/stories/bellmore-merrick-chsd-tennis-courts-open,125469) Proposed Hewlett-Woodmere School District budget is $126.8 million (/stories/proposed-hewlett-woodmere-school- district-budget-is-1268-million, 125467) Cedarhurst, Nassau County aims to help small businesses (/stories/cedarhurst-nassau-county-aims-to-help-small- businesses, 125462) Report an inappropriate comment (report item.html?sub_id=589788referring_url-X2Fstories'2FCERT-volunteers-prep-for-the-next-Big- (One%62058978) Comments2 7_cb=b7¢74d370a_oadest=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mountainfreshh20.com) -COM AWE NEED YOUR HELP — Support your hometown newspaper by making a donation. (/heraldsupport.html) CERT volunteers prep for the next Big One (Page 2 of 2) Zausner said Nassau County began its program a decade ago, and CERT volunteers played critical roles. during Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy in staffing the county's Emergency Operations Center in Bethpage as well as emergency shelters until the Red Cross took over, and in aiding victims recovering from the disaster. On Saturday, members of the Boy Scouts and Nassau County police and fire explorer posts acted as victims in a variety of emergency situations, from storms to fires to a building collapse. The CERT victims had to assess the damage, triage victims and quickly develop action plans. Judy Ryan, a CERT volunteer and Nassau’s incident command planning section chief, said more than six months of planning went into the rodeo. “We're preparing for the next disaster,” Ryan said. ‘The Nassau OEM has trained some 1,400 CERT volunteers in five divisions spread across the county over the past 10 years. CERT volunteers must be certified by the OEM. The next certification class will take place once a week for six weeks in the evening at LIUPost in Brookville, starting on Tuesday, Sept. 30. All classes will be held on Tuesdays, except the final class, which will take place on a Wednesday because of Election Day. To sign up for the class, call the CERT office at (516) 573-0636. OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY INTEREST YOU.