SFFD to Offer Neighborhood Emergency Response Training at UCSF
The UCSF Police Department and the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD) NERT (Neighborhood Emergency Response Team) training program have joined forces to provide disaster training for members of the campus community.
The course is free and sign-ups are now in progress for the July training session that includes two consecutive Tuesdays: July 20 and 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Both sessions will be conducted at the UCSF Mission Bay campus in the Genentech Hall, room N 114.
The NERT program is an all-risk, all-hazard training program that is designed to help prepare and protect individuals, their families and their neighbors in an emergency situation.
In the NERT training, participants learn to:
- Extinguish small fires and address utility issues
- Provide basic first aid and triage
- Search for and rescue victims safely
- Organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective, and
- Collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.
This training is open to all, but space is limited. Register now online, call 415/970-2024, or email.
If an earthquake of the same magnitude as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake were to originate on the San Andreas or Hayward faults within five to 10 miles of San Francisco, the level of destruction has been estimated to be 100 times greater than the 1989 temblor, which was centered 60 miles south of San Francisco.
If such an earthquake were to occur, the capacity of San Francisco fire, emergency management services, police and emergency response teams would be rapidly overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the destruction, experts say. Their ability to get to areas in need of help will be impeded by damage or destruction of roads, bridges, overpasses, emergency response facilities and other critical infrastructure.
San Francisco Firefighter Ed Chu teaches how to extricate a trapped victim as part of the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team training program at Laurel Heights.
“UCSF’s ability to recover from a disaster will be greatly enhanced as the number of staff, faculty and students who are prepared to help themselves and others increases,” says UCSF Police Chief Pamela Roskowski.
Recently, this NERT course has been conducted at Mission Center Building, Mission Bay campus and Parnassus campus and the goal is to have quarterly trainings to gain more members. UC Police are working to develop NERT teams at each major campus location, including Laurel Heights, Mount Zion and San Francisco General Hospital.
Related Link:
San Francisco Fire Department
NERT