On Saturday, May 21, Southern Marin Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) hosted an exercise in leadership, using the format of Incident Command System (ICS). Guest instructors from Central Marin CERT reviewed the general concepts of ICS, the organizational structure supported by FEMA that is used in disaster response across the country. In any event, someone needs to be in charge and the ICS teaches us a structure to assign roles and duties.

Central Marin CERT members Gerd Goette, Skip Fedanzo, Ann Shores and Stu Tanenberg reviewed the basics of the system, then divided the group into three Command Teams. Each group assumed the required ICS leadership roles and practiced responding to a virtual Earthquake in their neighborhood by sending out virtual CERT teams to assist neighbors in simulated scenarios. Team members practiced radio protocols to communicate back to the Incident Command.

Participants provided helpful feedback on the exercise with a resounding thanks to the instructors for a helpful and successful event.

To learn more about the CERT program, visit www.readymarin.org/cert/.