Citizens Emergency Response Training - by Mayor Bart Peterson

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Citizens Emergency Response Training
by Mayor Bart Peterson

In the days following September 11, cities across the country took a good, hard look at their respective emergency management plans. Indianapolis was no different than our counterparts in evaluating our abilities to respond to an emergency, be it a catastrophic disaster like the attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., or a natural disaster like floods and tornadoes.

I asked for a top-to-bottom review of the emergency response plan for our city and county, and was pleased to find that we were well-prepared for the pre-September 11 world. However, as we learned from September 11, we now must plan for the unthinkable. We have done that, and the result is a new comprehensive and thorough emergency management plan for the City of Indianapolis, one I think will serve as an effective blueprint in the event our city is faced with a disaster. You can read it online at the City’s Emergency Management Website www.indygov.org/ema/.

Because this plan has a critical impact on our city’s survival, it is absolutely necessary that we test and drill in order to ensure that we are effectively schooled in responding to disaster.

This summer, my office will coordinate a massive citywide tabletop drill. It’s a time where we will have the opportunity to sit at the same table with city and public safety departments, hospitals, health and human services organizations, and simulate both an emergency and a response.

I think this exercise will provide us with feedback on our abilities not only to respond to an emergency, but also to identify any gaps in our response, and then make the necessary adjustments to our city’s emergency management plan. But our work won’t end with just this tabletop. I plan to drill until our city is prepared to address any emergency.

While tabletop exercises primarily will affect the individuals and organizations that will respond to emergencies on the front lines, it is our neighborhoods that will be vital stakeholders in preparing for and responding to an emergency. And, there is one tool available to neighborhoods that our own public safety department provides.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985, for the purpose of training of neighborhoods to recover from earthquakes until public safety personnel can respond. Imagine if, in the event of a disaster, roads are blocked and power lines are down in your neighborhood, and public safety is prevented from bringing needed help to you.

Training in CERT would provide you with the effective resources to subsist until help arrives. This training, which will both connect and link you with your neighbors, covers disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, psychology and team organization, and will end with a disaster simulation.

CERT is an effective mechanism to prepare for an emergency and is conducted by local public safety professionals. For more information, contact Steve Robertson with our city’s emergency management division at 327-7503.

I look forward to updating you in the future on our ongoing efforts to address emergency response and preparedness in this city. I sincerely hope we will never have to utilize these plans, but with training, communication and continued updates to our emergency management plan, I think Indianapolis is well positioned to respond to disaster.