Leska, Ashton, Melinda, Michael Dowd and Yourdonite Gang,

Back in California now, after a visit to Oregon, and thinking about a different level of Y2K preparedness.

While in Portland, among many things, I sat in as a guest at the FEMA NET, Neighborhood Emergency Training, session. It really brought home the value of polishing up ones general first aid skills, basic emergency aid training, CPR and other Y2K valuable emergency response abilities.

I was quite impressed with the FEMA training from the three hour snapshot I saw. Among other things I learned how to quickly (or maybe not so rapidly in my case) TRIAGE the injured and the dead in a disaster scenario to determine those requiring I immediate care, D delayed care and the X or M beyond care (dead). We covered, with a trained Paramedic many topics such as how to check for vital signs, clear airway passages, recognize symptoms of those needing immediate care or delayed care, etc. We even got to role play a disaster scene that split teams had to triage. (I got to play-act a semi-delusional, still conscious, minor bleeding, and heading into shock victim who was then triaged as needing I immediate care. Whew! Early attention required. Might even make it through! Leska role-played an obnoxious, minorly injured winer trying to distract assessment teams from dealing with the truly injured. She did a marvelous job. Sorry Ashton, cant remember what role you played -- I was semi-delusional).

The evenings lesson really highlighted the value of taking the FEMA seven-week, one night a week NET training course. Among other things, you receive a FEMA NET hardhat, a special yellow rain slicker suit, and picture ID which shows youre part of team FEMA -- which could be quite valuable at some point in time.

Information about FEMA NET, can probably be found through the Emergency Management Institute (or contact Leska at ):

http://www.fema.gov/emi/

If you want to check out more contact your local FEMA regional office to ask about training:

http://www.fema.org/about/regoff.htm

On another topic, Im still shaking my head over a City of Portland Y2K Committee person. See Leskass comments on the thread run away, run away:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000PRJ

Or read Leskas comments:

... Ashton & I took Diane to our FEMA class last night. Great classes -- of course nobody mentions Y2K, but getting ready for earthquakes.

If you want to really find out what's up, you size up the attendees and talk after class. Turns out I happened upon a shocking dirty little secret: The city is about to start preparation classes and training for employees and their families. The mayor is submitting the first draft of a Y2K announcement. Information is being parsed and spun before the public gets it months down the road, AFTER the govt types get trained and get first grubs at supplies. Funny thing is, these scheming govt folks, who don't even see the exclusiveness of their ways (but we have to pilot the training first), get only 1% of the Y2K picture; they are in no way as informed as Forum readers are. ...

My additional comments:

Yes, it appears that the local Portland, Oregon government officials are Y2K aware, but their policy is to prepare government workers, and their families first, then, an some unspecified later date, they will encourage the general populace to get Y2K ready. I wonder if that is what other cities and local governments are also doing?

At any rate, the Portland contact is likely pretty low on the citys preparedness totem pole but in her mind Y2K isnt going to be much of a problem. When I mentioned Id been studying the issue and information on the internet her response was... Oh, if you read THAT stuff there, then youll panic! I looked at her in disbelief, and replied, Even on the United Nations web-site? We locked eyes and the blank look she gave me was quite priceless. She had absolutely NO idea of Y2K repercussions beyond her own tiny corner of the globe. Really sad! I hope shes not representative of most DWGI city employees, but I suspect she is. There are still so-o-o-o many people at different Y2K comprehension levels. *Sigh*

Diane

(P.S. Leska, easy and smooth flight back to ... wet weather again in CA also. Good to see you and Ashton! Now gotta play thread catch-up)

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 22, 1999

Answers

"...the blank look she gave me was quite priceless."

Gosh, Diane, you sure know how to cheer a person up.

Oy weh! Facts can be cruel.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), January 22, 1999.

Sorry Tom,

I'm rapidly receiving confirmation that the grass-roots Y2K community awareness efforts, on-going and those just ramping up, ARE practically the only viable way to prepare this country! (At this timing).

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 22, 1999.

Diane, Leska and Ashton,

*Thank you* for this valuable information. I'm checking it out today.

-- Scarlett (ohara@tara.net), January 22, 1999.

Welcome home, Diane!

So you visited Leska & Ashton in Cascadia? That is SO cool!

Hmmm...FEMA Training. That's something to look into...

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), January 22, 1999.

Yes, it was/IS cool ;-)
*dreaming of Yourdon Land, starting small and planning tall*

The FEMA/NERT/CERT/NET (every city likes to title it "their way") training is invaluable. It is free, although you will incur expenses for prep tools, which are common sense and important to have. The training encompasses many helpful skills/drills besides the medical assistance portion, and offers ongoing advanced training and seminars plus multiple hands-on exercises where you can practice your techniques. Good for remembering them when you need them! Also an incredibly useful place to meet up with other dedicated citizen activists who want to help their communities and know the value of practical, time-testing skill-building.

Ashton & I have posted many paragraphs of info about this on the Forum in the past months. Can't wait for that search engine! ~ ~ Too brain-limp now to add much ;^}

Oh, and as Diane can attest, Ashton is just as active as Leska with all this :-) We're also busy as bees on other related fronts. Gotta sleep, re-box the rest of our EmergPrep stuff, and earn money to bug out!

Ashton & Leska in Cascadia

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), January 22, 1999.

Diane or Leska or Ashton:

What would your advice be for someone without any medical training or supplies. Should a class (like Red cross) be taken first, and then the FEMA? Also, do you think it is a good idea for both husband and wife to attend, or is just one going sufficient?

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), January 22, 1999.

Diane, (no sarcasm) Think about EMT training through a local college. If we make it through Y2K, consider med school. I'll give you a referral if you like.

-- RD. ->H (drherr@erols.com), January 22, 1999.

Rob, the FEMA (local level) classes are designed from the ground up with all the skill sets. Nobody needs to know anything about anything beforehand. You'll have a large FEMA manual with reading and gathering homework assignments. The instructors are top-notch expert professionals in their fields, and obviously get a rush out of teaching the classes and especially the drills and exercises. No prerequisites necessary. The homework, instructors and your classmates bring you up to speed quickly. You start with the Basic Course and go from there, as far as you desire. It's all free, except normal common-sense supplies for your backpack (bug-out bag) that you'd want to have anyway.

It is excellent for both husband and wife to attend. It's likely you'll be a team in a disaster, so the support is invaluable. It is always good to be on a buddy sytem with emergencies, and if you already know your buddy well you have a communication advantage. You and your spouse will probably have some new, interesting discussions after each class! New skills add a spark to any relationship; learning is invigorating. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), January 22, 1999.

Thanks Leska - my better half has already expressed interest in us both going but I wasn't sure if it made any difference. We have some info on Red Cross classes but this FEMA stuff looks way cool. I'll start at the links above and go from there.

Spark? Hmmm.

-- Rob Michaels (sonofdust@net.com), January 22, 1999.

RD.,

Thanks, but I'll leave med school to others. I prefer alternative healing anyway.

As pertains to the FEMA training, I was impressed and thinking that this knowledge would come in handy -- for Y2K possibilities AND upcoming natural disasters. Also that little "Team" FEMA badge and easily identifiable outfit might be useful...in case they get selective about who goes where. (Hint: Neighborhood workers help them by staying in their local areas). And actually, Id be willing to help. Well all need to.

Diane

(BTW, I'll also look into Red Cross offerings and EMT classes. But, I might be moving soon. We'll see).

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 22, 1999.

Hi Diane! Melinda just called totally jazzed; apparently her State Police husband has been proselytizing the word to prepare and using some Forum threads & news articles and lo and behold, the police are receptive! They want the FEMA training. Plus our staff is expressing a desire to take it :). Ashton & I will be presenting the overview at InServices next week. Life sure would be easier if our circle of co-workers Got It and became prepared and community-helpful. Have been suggesting this for years, but guess it took Diane & the Prez's terrorism announcement to make people notice ;-)

Ashton & Leska in Cascadia

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), January 22, 1999.

That's good news Leska,

I suppose whatever it takes to get people prepared to pay attention.

Diane *Sigh*

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 22, 1999.

Will they let you take it without giving your social security number, full name and address, DNA sample and blood type ("just for the records,: of course).

-- a (a@aisa.com), January 23, 1999.

You all are good people. My wife is an experienced Nurse Practitioner, she can do it all - suture, deliver babies, prescribe meds, you name it. That's one reason we've decided NOT to bug out - we figure our teletubby neighbors might need us if the hammer really comes down. I'll do my "social work" with my AR-10, while my wife does hers with her stethescope. Gotta try to protect the kids around here at least.

-RC

-- Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com), January 23, 1999.

It's a wise investment for your personal preparation time to study the FEMA web-site. They will play a KEY role in upcoming Y2K activities nationwide. -- Diane

LINKS: Know Your FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 000NRV

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 23, 1999.

Hello. I am a nurse that owns a company in Portland that has 2 divisions: a home care company and a corporate and personal preparedness company. I work with Ashton and Leska. Thanks to them I learned about the Y2K problem and have been preparing staff and clients since last November (our Web site is not up yet-sorry-hopefully in February).

Anyway, I cannot resist replying about the animosity that can easily develop between those that "get it" and those that do not. Y2K is a topic that can easily scare people. In our caring and desire to share our knowledge with people, we sometimes forget they have not had all the time we have to integrate this and we give them too much information. The result is almost a total psychological shut down. Almost immediately the person "tunes you out" just to preserve their sense of well-being.

I have tried to figure out how to approach people about Y2K without scarring them so much they do not hear my message. At this point I have decided to focus on the intent of my message which is that I care about them and others. It is easy to see government officals as their job title rather then see them as people. A lot of people just can't "get-it." They do not have the coping mechanisms.

I think it is important to remember this so that we don't loose sight that we are fortunate to "get-it." I will always be grateful that Ashton and Leska shared their knowledge with me. I am thankful that I also have the opportunity to share with others.

However, I will always be careful not to get angry at those who do not get-it. I am also going to try to think about how much to share so that I don't send someone into a panic. I like the FEMA classes because they do not focus on Y2K. I think that this could be a real benefit to people who do not "get-it" because they will get valuable training that will also help them through Y2K. Most people understand natural disasters. For those that just can't "get-it" it is important to know we can guide them to FEMA classes as a first step.

I think it is wasted effort to focus on the things that the government isn't doing. At this point it is too late to make changes. I believe that our greatest chance for success is to find key people in community governments and help them to "get-it." I personally find it overwhelming to think about influencing Washington D.C. But I know that I can make a difference here in Oregon. Especially if I remember to treat the "don't get its" with as much love as the "get-its." I believe that the only way to deal with this is through a positive attitude. A friend once told me that he had read a book about the difference between optimists and pessimists. He said that both groups had the same amount of troubles but that the optimists were much happier. I've never forgotten that.

It was wonderful to spend 4 days with Diane. Lots of positive energy. I know we can make a difference. Diane told me about what Mother Therese said when someone asked her how she helped so many, she said, "I feed myself first." It was valuable advice. So, I am going home to nurse my exhaustion. See you tomorrow. Melinda +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-- (melinda@noworries.org), January 23, 1999.

Be well, Melinda.

It was great to meet you too. I have a high respect for those of the nursing profession, and your sparkle and open heart make you extra special in all healing circles!

And thanks for the reminder that our city and local government officials need care and understanding about Y2K too.

In many cases, it is safe to assume they are getting the "chain of command Y2K is no problem perspective" from their superiors. It takes a certain level of motivation to search beyond what you think you know, or are being told, about key Y2K and other issues.

The greater objective, IMHO, is that people at all levels prepare for the unknown. Whatever the motivation. Let's also not forget, the almost certain escalating natural disasters confronting our world with increasing impact, are worth preparing for as well.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 24, 1999.

TLC care + understanding of local officials according to Koskinen:

"Koskinen said the ultimate burden for Year 2000 failures would fall on the shoulders of local government. If and when technology defaults start cutting off vital services, he warned: "The people with the pitchforks will come looking for you, not me."

Think we're more gentle on 'em than the end of a pitchfork! ;-D

Pitchforks Come Looking For Locals

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-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), January 24, 1999.