On Saturday, February 11th, eighteen Dallas CERT members, along with City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management CERT Coordinator, Cassandra Wallace, met at the Harris County Fire Training Center to participate in the fifth annual CERT Rodeo. Ten teams from around Texas participated in eleven different tasks related to CERT training. Basic skills included: cribbing, triage, treatment, tower search, fire suppression and patient transport. Advanced skills were comprised of: haz-mat size-up and identification, Incident Command, and evidence Identification. Other team-building exercises were also a part of the rodeo and included the gang-plank, a skill in which a team of four steps on to two parallel planks and, using ropes to hold the planks tight to their feet, walk in unison.
The Rodeo was a great opportunity for regional CERTs to meet other teams from around the state and to share experiences and resources. Dallas CERT handed out heat blankets, donated by MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon sponsors, giving each of the attending teams a roll of 200 to add to their supplies.
Dallas CERT completed the ten scored tasks with a total score of 946, for a respectable 95% average.
Our thanks to our hosts, Harris County CERT, and to the many sponsoring organizations, as well as to Cassandra Wallace and the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management, which provided lodging for the competitors, and which has been of tremendous support to City of Dallas CERT since its beginnings. The Rowlett CERTs finished a strong second, making 2012 the second year in a row that North Central Texas teams placed first and second. Congratulations to all who attended!
Courtesy of Doug Frazier, Dallas CERT |
