UH West Oʻahu disaster preparedness students train for emergencies

They are part of the first campus CERT team in the state

University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu
Contact:
Jason Levy, (808) 921-7817
Associate Professor, Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management
Posted: Nov 29, 2015

**Link to video and sound: http://bit.ly/1OyK94b

KAPOLEI --- UH West Oʻahu disaster preparedness and emergency management students went through training exercises today to become certified as the first-ever University of Hawaiʻi Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). These community-based teams are recognized by the City and County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Management and other government agencies, and are made up of volunteers who assist first responders in affected communities immediately after a disaster. CERT members are trained in triage, damage assessment, evacuation and other important skills in emergency situations.

The CERT participants rotated between three training exercises that required an incident commander, triage, extraction and medical team.  The remaining students played the roles of survivors.

To become certified, UH West Oʻahu student team members also had to complete 20 hours of coursework as part of the PUBA 461: Social Dimensions of Disaster Response class.

UH West Oʻahu offers a bachelor of public administration degree with a concentration in disaster preparedness and emergency management, and a certificate in disaster preparedness and emergency management. All courses meet the national standards as established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Higher Education Project. For more information, visit the UH West Oʻahu disaster preparedness and emergency management webpage.

UH West Oʻahu students who successfully completed today’s training exercises will participate in a CERT graduation ceremony at UH West Oʻahu on Monday, Nov. 30, at 9:30 a.m.

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Established in 1976, the University of Hawaiʻi - West O‘ahu offers quality education, small classes and personalized attention with academic programs that emphasize the exploration of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural studies. UH West O‘ahu serves approximately 2,700 students at its brand new, state-of-the-art campus that opened in the City of Kapolei in 2012. For more information, visit www.uhwo.hawaii.edu, call (808) 689-2800 or toll-free (866) 299-8656. Find us on Facebook and Twitter.

**Link to video and sound: http://bit.ly/1OyK94b

Soundbites:
Jason Levy, Associate Professor of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, UH West O‘ahu (:20)
“Youʻre looking here at an extraction team, a triage team, a rescue team… various individuals that are determining the severity of injuries in terms of the triage, and trying to determine who requires care immediately. The goal of CERT is to do the most good for the most number people.”


John Stewart, student, UH West O‘ahu (:14)
“As a first responder, Iʻve never been able to get to the place I need to get to fast enough. But, as a citizen now, in my own neighborhood, I can respond as soon as I take care of my family and myself, I can assist my neighbors.”

B-ROLL
:00 - :09 2-person team exterior, heads into building
:09 - :16 victim on floor with severed fake hand
:16 - :30 team walking perimeter darkened room with trainer
:30 - :36 team triages man on floor
:36 - :42 man on floor with head wound
:42 - :49 2-shot CERT person and trainer
:49 - :56 triage list on wall
:56 - 1:01 triage team by wall list
1:01 - 1:06 CERT team walking ambulatory patient across campus (ext)
1:07 - 1:15 WS CERT class debriefing
1:16-1:27 CU CERT trainer debriefing