The big one and the rest of us

There is a different and special one percent in our midst: the very few among us who have sought out training and are ready to save themselves and reach out to help the rest of us in the aftermath of an earthquake, volcano or tsunami, a catastrophic event that will turn life as we know it upside down.

This could happen any day in the next 200 years. The last Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in the region was around 1700. Researchers say one occurs every 300 to 500 years, so maybe tomorrow or maybe not in our lifetimes the earth will shake.

If it is in our lifetimes? A very few of our neighbors have trained with CERT: A Community Emergency Response Team. These folks have heard the specifics of the horror stories: the Rainbow and Twin Bridges collapsing, electricity, water, natural gas, water and sewage lines being severed and the estimate being months before restoration of these basic services. Seattle will get all the attention of too limited resources and expertise.

A fire, flood or severe thunder- or wind-storm, depending on where you live, may disrupt your lives for three days or three weeks at anytime, this season or next, this year or next.

Three days. That’s 72 hours. That is the quantity of supplies CERT trainers teach their teams to prepare for, for themselves. That is three gallons of water. It is a comprehensive first aid kit, your hygiene needs, various pairs of gloves (for fire versus water or cold), tarp, tape, garbage bags and, as REI lists, survival blankets, emergency ponchos, hand warmers, multifunctional tool, waterproof matches, emergency candles, cable ties and a 5-in-1 whistle. And, yes, two-way radios.

This is for one person. It fills a large suitcase. And stock food, planning for neither refrigeration nor cooking it.

The few CERT trained neighbors are preparing to assist first responders and assist the rest of us. But they don’t have the resources to save themselves, much less us. Three gallons of water weighs 25 pounds. That is heavy.

I am in no way prepared. And, I am not preparing to get prepared. I am in the 99 percent that are going to be a mess and no help, seeking help and being in the way.

It is true that Benjamin Franklin organized the first volunteer fire department, in 1736. Almost 300 years later our communities still depend on mutual aid provided by our neighbors, families and friends.

Some still doubt the reality of climate change and others wonder what that topic is doing in their local newspaper. While those that doubt and ponder are doing so, they can also – along with their fellow citizens – take this training and help our community be a little more prepared for when the next big one hits.

We can hope it will never happen or will be 100 years from now, but preparation will get us ready, whatever our hopes are.

Fewer than one percent of us are CERT trained. The six week course that is taking place in Shelter Bay has 15 people attending. Most of them are older than me, and this is my first month on Medicare.

It is too late to take this course, but more will be offered. Rick Wallace, of Anacortes, is a primary CERT champion. Contact him: 360-202-3106, [email protected], http://www.SkagitCERT.org – ken stern