Disguised!

And I thought my hard hat days were over when I left Mercy Ships!! But here I am again, along with Todd Sprinkel who is our Director of Emergency Health and Programs here at Hope Force. We both participated in a CERT class (Community Emergency Response Training) which prepares you to be a 'responder' in the event of a local emergency/disaster (although the skills and tools we used and received prepare you for a wider spread disaster as well). We did a whole morning on Light Search and Rescue, how to assess victims in a disaster (as to who needs help and who is beyond help). There were about 40 others from around the area taking the training (4 of our Hope Force Reservists participated). Clicking on the link above will take you to some great information to help YOU prepare for an emergency. Think of it as a gift to your family and loved ones!!

And of course, we did a bit of training on putting out fires (although I had this training while in Mercy Ships, so I was well prepared!). Todd and I both took a turn at putting out a little fire using a bit of CO2...not too eventful, although very informative.

Being in the field of Disaster Response, ongoing courses are a must to keep my mind filled with techniques, responses, and preparedness. What a better time to prepare than when things are calm on the homefront!