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6 | OHCC LIVING | JULY 2021 | OHCC SERT EARTHQUAKE DRILL A SUCCESS! Earthquake fun facts: According to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center at Cal Tech and the United States Geological Service, there have been 259,680 earthquake incidents in California on record since 1931. The state averages 3,129 earthquakes per year. The largest earthquake on record for California occurred on June 28, 1992, with a magnitude of 7.3. On June 11, 2021, there were 13 earthquakes detected in the greater Southern California area. During these 13 earthquakes, another significant event took place when 32 of OHCC's finest — members of the SERT Emergency Response Team (ERT), consisting of tactical responders, first- aid specialists, golf cart and RV owners and drivers and other support staff wearing white, green, red, orange, yellow and blue vests — participated in a drill designed to test their mettle in simulated response to one of those many earthquakes. This drill was the culmination of many hours of volunteer time spent to receive American Red Cross basic first aid certification and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), and OHCC Safety and Emergency Response Team (SERT) training. I want to stress the word "volunteer," but, in actuality, these people are also your friends and neighbors who choose to make our community a safer place to live. We've been told many times that when (and not if ) an earthquake that will adversely impact our community occurs, our Community Patrol Service may be under no obligation to assist us and it may take as long as three days to receive any meaningful help from municipal emergency responders. This latter fact was reiterated by the Oceanside Fire Department representative on site during the drill. Simply stated, we, the residents of OHCC, need to be self-sufficient and self-sustaining until some level of normalcy is achieved. This is the mission of the Emergency Response Team, with your help. In "response speak," the objective of an actual response is the identification of residents who are in need of emergency medical services and to provide, to the best of our ability, those services directly or to coordinate the services with the municipal emergency responders. Strategically that is accomplished by performing a community wide assessment of resident life-safety. Finally, from a tactical perspective, the assessment is accomplished by driving throughout the community to identify the red, green, or no signs. There are many more moving parts than I've just described, but they are all designed to fit together into one seamless, choreographed event. Now for some less fun but more important facts: By our count, there were 713 OK signs and 15 HELP signs displayed and 768 homes with no signs displayed. (There were 136 residences left to assess when the drill ended.) I realize this was only a drill, but over half of the residences assessed had no signs! During an actual response, ERT members would investigate the issues involving the HELP signs first, and those streets with Street Captains would investigate the homes with no signs. It's important to note that homes with HELP signs give ERT members "implied consent" to enter the property (but not the house), but neither ERT members nor Street Captains are allowed to enter the property of those with no signs. It's also important to note that not all streets have Captains or Co-Captains. The reality is that it may take the entire three days to determine if the residents in homes with no sign require help, and, in actuality, we may not know at all. PLEASE – display your signs or let someone (Street Captain, Community Patrol, or neighbor) know if you will not be home for an extended period. The SERT Club Board of Directors wants to express gratitude to the members of its Emergency Response Team, and to those residents who chose to participate by displaying their signs. Together, we will make our community a safer place to live. We are not finished. By the time you read this article, the SERT Emergency Response Team Command and Leadership will have already conducted its After-Action Review meant to identify areas of improvement. After a short period of well-deserved vacation, we will begin evaluation of a more effective and efficient response strategy, along with additional training for the ERT members. It's an evolving process. Finally, help us to help you. Please consider becoming a Street Captain or a member of the SERT Emergency Response Team by sending us an email at ohccsert@gmail.com. More to come – stay tuned… Watch for drill highlights on OHCC TV! By John Slayton, SERT Club President

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