Residents learning rescue techniques

Rebecca Malone

Tuesday, June 12, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

Registration

Those interested in registering for the class can call 229-0067 or e-mail rdiebold@ci.las-vegas.nv.us. The class will be limited to 24 students.

Neighbors are being trained to help save lives when emergency officials are overwhelmed.

From putting out a small, contained fire to assisting in a disaster the magnitude of the 1980 MGM fire, everyday citizens will learn the basics needed to survive whatever life throws at them.

The city of Las Vegas and Las Vegas Fire Department are sponsoring Community Emergency Response Team classes that will teach people minor rescue techniques.

"We are not trying to replace firefighters or police," Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. "This program works to make citizens aware of how to handle disaster situations. There are some things that you need to teach people."

The series of seven classes will teach, among other skills, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, how to shut off gas meters and how to escape a burning building.

They include disaster preparedness, fire suppression, medical operations, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, team organization and a final exercise that will simulate a disaster scene to test the skills of the previous six classes. Among the exercise's tasks will be assisting screaming victims and putting out a trash can fire.

The first session will be Tuesday nights June 19 to July 31. The three-hour classes will begin at 6:30 p.m. and accommodate about 24 students per session.

The CERT program is already in use in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City and had a test run in 1999 in Sun City Summerlin. Szymanski said the classes were well received, and that is why he worked with the city to apply for the $300,000 Project Impact grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The city contributed $100,000.

The grant will be used for several different programs, including $123,000 to train and equip 320 people in the CERT program, said Rick Diebold, a Project Impact official and course manager.

"This program allows us to prepare individuals ahead of time for an incident that may occur," Diebold said. "I guarantee we will have (a disaster), I just don't know when."

One little-noted danger that prompted the training is the potential for an earthquake in Southern Nevada, he said.

Diebold referred to a report released by FEMA last year that rated Las Vegas the fifth in the cost of damage if an earthquake occurred, largely because of property value loss. Craig Depolo, a research geologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, said Las Vegas has plenty of earthquake hazards.

Although Depolo believes Las Vegas is at risk for serious damage from an earthquake, little research has been done on the city's ability to handle a major earthquake, he said.

"An underlying aspect about Las Vegas that troubles us the most is the lack of information we have," Depolo said. "It is clear that there are faults within Las Vegas, but what isn't clear is how they will impact the city."

Clark County Emergency Manager Robert Andrews agreed that not enough research has been done to show what would happen in the Las Vegas Valley if an earthquake hit.

"Because of the lack of clear consensus among the experts -- the seismologists -- we haven't had a clear sense of the risk," Andrews said.

The experts did agree, however, that it would be best to be prepared, so the CERT program was begun, Diebold said. It also will help with problems on a smaller scale, such as floods and fires.

"Disasters happen, and instantly the government resources are overwhelmed," Diebold said. "This program allows people to care for themselves and their neighbors until help can arrive."