City offers emergency management trainings

Survive and thrive if a disaster occurs on Mercer Island.

That’s the message that city emergency manager Amanda Keverkamp and her coworkers hope residents take home after participating in the free upcoming Stop the Bleed classes and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training sessions in November. Two Stop the Bleed sessions of 30 attendees each are nearly full, and the maximum amount of 30 attendees has almost been reached for the CERT session.

These are popular and crucial basic disaster preparedness and response skills offerings that will occur at the community and event center, Keverkamp said.

On the two-hour Stop the Bleed, life-saving techniques courses set for 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 14, Keverkamp added: “We’re really excited to bring that to Mercer Island and give Islanders a chance to learn these skills. Every person who learns this is just one person who may be able to save a life in the future.”

Washington state CERT and emergency management trainers will teach the Stop the Bleed classes, which are offered through a national program and include proper tourniquet application and wound pressurization and more.

At the annual hands-on CERT training, which will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. over the weekend of Nov. 15-17, attendees will learn fire safety skills, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue and more. As take-home offerings, participants will receive a binder featuring all the course information, a backpack with basic CERT supplies like a hard hat, work gloves, goggles, a vest and other items.

Keverkamp said the national CERT program began after 9/11 to train citizens to lend a hand if disaster strikes. People with CERT training “can get together in teams and they can assist first responders and officials in helping their fellow community members respond to a disaster,” she said.

Since 2010, just over 200 Mercer Islanders have engaged in CERT training. Around 60 of those residents have undergone extra training to become registered volunteers; 40 of those people are volunteering on a regular basis and helping at city outreach programs.

If a major earthquake hits the region and bridges are unusable until checked by and given the go-ahead by inspectors, the Island could be cut off from the outside community, Keverkamp said.

“This community will be on its own. And so, the folks who are trained, the folks who have learned to work together are going to be the ones who are going to be helping out the most,” she added.

Over the last year and a half in her emergency manager role, Keverkamp has seen that Islanders are quick to assist their fellow citizens during school fundraisers, donating to Youth and Family Services and spending volunteer hours in the CERT realm.

“People don’t want to think about disaster and what that could mean and what that could look like. The people who do really step in, they understand and they are super passionate about it,” Keverkamp said.

Keverkamp has also participated in CERT training and said that she and others feel confident and empowered to help neighbors, families and themselves if they are faced with a disaster situation. Participating in emergency preparedness training can bring about a sense of peace, knowing that citizens are ready to help if needed, she added.

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