Last week was a long, but educational week. I and about 20 others attended Butler County’s CERT training Class (more: FEMA.gov). The class is 20 hours — 6 to 10 pm on four evenings and 8 am to noon on Saturday. Combine that with a 35 minute drive each way, and with my normal wake-up time of 3:30 am,and it made for a long week. Not that I’m complaining…at least one other person in the class had to work third shift.
It’s not too hard to find online what the class teaches a person — and over the course of the upcoming weeks and months I’ll go into some detail on the things we learned that you can apply without having taken the class.
Today, though, I want to talk about the four things I learned that I didn’t expect.
#1: What you DON’T do can be as important as what you DO.
In a disaster, take away all your preconceptions about right & wrong, smart & not-so-smart, and whose job “it” is. Some examples:
CPR has no role in a disaster. It jars one’s soul to leave a person for dead when you know you have a chance of saving them with CPR. But sacrificing that one life is necessary because you may be able to preserve tens or hundreds of other lives.
Search and Rescue does not mean I’m going to be dangling half-over a foundation wall, trying to push debris off someone so I can pull them out with some superhuman effort. In my most likely role, arriving in a devastated community before the professional responders, I may never get to the search and rescue activity. But if I do, I have to weigh my own safety in the equation before trying any rescue. I do no one any good by becoming another victim.
#2: What may look like inaction, isn’t.
The cliche says only fools rush in. Can’t get much simpler than that.
The most productive few minutes for a newly-arriving responder is the scene size-up. in EMS we were taught the “windshield survey.” For our chase crew, it will be something similar. Thirty, sixty or ninety seconds spent scanning the scene and getting a mental understanding of what you’re about to embark on; donning proper safety equipment; making a plan and communicating it — all those are things that will look like we’re “wasting time we could be helping people.” Rushing in gets more people hurt.
#3: Initial search includes only very limited treatment.
Putting this to practice will be very hard for me. It’s a natural response to try to fix what’s wrong when first encountering a patient. I can imagine what it’d be like for me to have a broken leg, trapped under a collapsed floor, and to have a rescuer come up to me, eyeball the situation, talk to me briefly, and then WALK OFF. But while my injuries have a profound impact on me at that moment, in the grand scheme of things in a disaster, they’re pretty minor.
During an initial search, a trained responder (professional, volunteer, or community-based) will treat only these things:
People who aren’t breathing. Treatment consists of attempting the head tilt chin lift maneuver. If they don’t start breathing, we try once more. If that doesn’t work, they are left for dead.
People with excessive bleeding. Only the most basic first aid for bleeding is attempted: direct pressure, elevating the wound if possible, supplemented by pressure dressings if needed, If you are unhurt or mildly hurt, a rescuer may ask you to maintain the pressure for them, so they may move on to assess other victims.
People showing signs of shock. This refers to the physical manifestations of shock. While the emotional reactions to the major life disruption that’s just happened are important, in most cases they don’t play a significant role here.
#4: CERT volunteers, at least in Butler County, do a lot of non-disaster stuff.
How about:
parking cars
searching for a set of dentures in a road side ditch
event security
Yeah, we do that. And a whole lot more.
Even if you choose not to participate on your county’s CERT team, the training is very useful. You learn a plethora of things that can help you be more resistant to disasters that affect your family and life. It’s free, and you’ll get no pressure to join the team if that isn’t what you want to do.
Members Get More
Additional details are available for these membership levels:
BasicEnthusiast
Keep Up to Date - Enable Notifications
OK
No thanks
1 - Query:
SELECT option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'siteurl' LIMIT 1
Time: 0.546 ms
2 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_pmpro_membership_levels
Time: 0.151 ms
3 - Query:
SET time_zone = "+00:00"
Time: 0.270 ms
4 - Query:
SELECT t0.name AS name_1, t0.value AS value_2, t0.id AS id_3, t0.created_at AS created_at_4, t0.updated_at AS updated_at_5 FROM wp_mailpoet_settings t0
Time: 0.326 ms
5 - Query:
SHOW TABLES LIKE 'wp\\_ewwwio\\_images'
Time: 0.732 ms
6 - Query:
select option_name, option_value from wp_options where option_name like 'mcloud%'
Time: 1.241 ms
7 - Query:
SHOW TABLES LIKE 'wp_mcloud_pending_optimizations'
Time: 0.770 ms
8 - Query:
SHOW TABLES LIKE 'wp_mcloud_bg_optimizations'
Time: 0.466 ms
9 - Query:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM information_schema.tables
WHERE table_schema = 'dbb845775ff53c4a11a5569812f8843b49'
AND table_name IN ('wp_toolset_associations', 'wp_toolset_connected_elements', 'wp_toolset_relationships', 'wp_toolset_type_sets')
Time: 0.722 ms
10 - Query:
SELECT count(w0_.id) AS sclr_0 FROM wp_mailpoet_subscribers w0_ WHERE w0_.deleted_at IS NULL AND w0_.status IN ('subscribed', 'unconfirmed', 'inactive')
Time: 0.239 ms
11 - Query:
SELECT a.action_id FROM wp_actionscheduler_actions a LEFT JOIN wp_actionscheduler_groups g ON g.group_id=a.group_id WHERE 1=1 AND g.slug='mailpoet-cron' AND a.hook='mailpoet/cron/daemon-trigger' AND a.args='[]' AND a.status IN ('in-progress', 'pending') LIMIT 0, 1
Time: 0.266 ms
12 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT t.trigger_key
FROM `wp_mailpoet_automations` AS a
JOIN `wp_mailpoet_automation_triggers` as t
WHERE a.status = 'active' AND a.id = t.automation_id
ORDER BY trigger_key DESC
Time: 0.260 ms
13 - Query:
SELECT id FROM wp_pmpro_membership_levels LIMIT 1
Time: 0.283 ms
14 - Query:
SELECT id FROM wp_pmpro_membership_levels WHERE allow_signups = 1 AND (initial_payment > 0 OR billing_amount > 0 OR trial_amount > 0) LIMIT 1
Time: 0.075 ms
15 - Query:
SELECT user_id FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_users WHERE initial_payment > 0 OR billing_amount > 0 OR trial_amount > 0 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.062 ms
16 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT meta_value FROM wp_postmeta
WHERE meta_key = '_view_loop_template'
AND meta_value != '0'
ORDER BY post_id
Time: 0.317 ms
17 - Query:
SELECT ID, post_name, post_parent, post_type
FROM wp_posts
WHERE post_name IN ('unexpected-lessons-from-cert')
AND post_type IN ('page','attachment')
Time: 0.700 ms
18 - Query:
SELECT wp_posts.ID
FROM wp_posts
WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'unexpected-lessons-from-cert' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'post'
ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC
Time: 0.643 ms
19 - Query:
SELECT autoload FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'pmpro_visits' LIMIT 1
Time: 0.587 ms
20 - Query:
SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `wp_options`
Time: 0.954 ms
21 - Query:
UPDATE `wp_options` SET `option_value` = 'a:9:{s:5:\"today\";i:769;s:8:\"thisdate\";s:10:\"2025-16-05\";s:4:\"week\";i:8167;s:8:\"thisweek\";s:2:\"20\";s:5:\"month\";i:30746;s:9:\"thismonth\";s:1:\"5\";s:3:\"ytd\";i:231873;s:8:\"thisyear\";s:4:\"2025\";s:7:\"alltime\";i:1449097;}' WHERE `option_name` = 'pmpro_visits'
Time: 0.409 ms
22 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta
ON ( wp_posts.ID = wp_postmeta.post_id )
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta AS mt1
ON ( wp_posts.ID = mt1.post_id )
WHERE 1=1
AND ( ( wp_postmeta.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_enabled'
AND wp_postmeta.meta_value = 'yes' ) )
AND post_title = 'unexpected-lessons-from-cert/'
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
AND post_status = 'publish'
AND ( ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'only_not_logged_in' )
OR ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'both' ) )
Time: 0.812 ms
23 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
WHERE 1=1
AND post_title = 'unexpected-lessons-from-cert/'
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
Time: 0.330 ms
24 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta
ON ( wp_posts.ID = wp_postmeta.post_id )
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta AS mt1
ON ( wp_posts.ID = mt1.post_id )
WHERE 1=1
AND ( ( wp_postmeta.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_enabled'
AND wp_postmeta.meta_value = 'yes' ) )
AND post_title = ''
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
AND post_status = 'publish'
AND ( ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'only_not_logged_in' )
OR ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'both' ) )
Time: 0.103 ms
25 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
WHERE 1=1
AND post_title = ''
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
Time: 0.065 ms
26 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta
ON ( wp_posts.ID = wp_postmeta.post_id )
INNER JOIN wp_postmeta AS mt1
ON ( wp_posts.ID = mt1.post_id )
WHERE 1=1
AND ( ( wp_postmeta.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_enabled'
AND wp_postmeta.meta_value = 'yes' ) )
AND post_title = 'unexpected-lessons-from-cert'
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
AND post_status = 'publish'
AND ( ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'only_not_logged_in' )
OR ( mt1.meta_key = '_seopress_redirections_logged_status'
AND mt1.meta_value = 'both' ) )
Time: 0.652 ms
27 - Query:
SELECT ID
FROM wp_posts
WHERE 1=1
AND post_title = 'unexpected-lessons-from-cert'
AND post_type = 'seopress_404'
Time: 0.288 ms
28 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.296 ms
29 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.144 ms
30 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.264 ms
31 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.111 ms
32 - Query:
SELECT p.ID FROM wp_posts AS p WHERE p.post_date < '2017-01-13 10:01:05' AND p.post_type = 'post' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY p.post_date DESC LIMIT 1
Time: 0.588 ms
33 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72124 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.160 ms
34 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72124 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.136 ms
35 - Query:
SELECT p.ID FROM wp_posts AS p WHERE p.post_date > '2017-01-13 10:01:05' AND p.post_type = 'post' AND p.post_status = 'publish' ORDER BY p.post_date ASC LIMIT 1
Time: 0.509 ms
36 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.248 ms
37 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.097 ms
38 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.508 ms
39 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.152 ms
40 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.108 ms
41 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.146 ms
42 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.157 ms
43 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.098 ms
44 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.212 ms
45 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.127 ms
46 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT t.term_id
FROM wp_terms AS t INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy AS tt ON t.term_id = tt.term_id INNER JOIN wp_term_relationships AS tr ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
WHERE tt.taxonomy IN ('category', 'post_tag', 'wpmf_tag', 'event') AND tr.object_id IN (968)
ORDER BY t.name ASC
Time: 0.145 ms
47 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT t.term_id
FROM wp_terms AS t INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy AS tt ON t.term_id = tt.term_id INNER JOIN wp_term_relationships AS tr ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
WHERE tt.taxonomy IN ('category') AND tr.object_id IN (968)
ORDER BY tt.parent DESC
Time: 0.233 ms
48 - Query:
SELECT autoload FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'pmpro_views' LIMIT 1
Time: 0.503 ms
49 - Query:
UPDATE `wp_options` SET `option_value` = 'a:9:{s:5:\"today\";i:687;s:8:\"thisdate\";s:10:\"2025-16-05\";s:4:\"week\";i:8369;s:8:\"thisweek\";s:2:\"20\";s:5:\"month\";i:31996;s:9:\"thismonth\";s:1:\"5\";s:3:\"ytd\";i:232344;s:8:\"thisyear\";s:4:\"2025\";s:7:\"alltime\";i:942387;}' WHERE `option_name` = 'pmpro_views'
Time: 0.392 ms
50 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT t.term_id
FROM wp_terms AS t INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy AS tt ON t.term_id = tt.term_id INNER JOIN wp_term_relationships AS tr ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
WHERE tt.taxonomy IN ('category') AND tr.object_id IN (968)
ORDER BY t.name ASC
Time: 0.233 ms
51 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT t.term_id
FROM wp_terms AS t INNER JOIN wp_term_taxonomy AS tt ON t.term_id = tt.term_id INNER JOIN wp_term_relationships AS tr ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
WHERE tt.taxonomy IN ('post_tag') AND tr.object_id IN (968)
ORDER BY t.name ASC
Time: 3.697 ms
52 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(19) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '968')
Time: 0.158 ms
53 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(19) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '968')
Time: 0.439 ms
54 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(19) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '968')
Time: 0.221 ms
55 - Query:
SELECT post_id, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key = '_wp_attached_file' AND meta_value = 'Certlogo.gif'
Time: 25.459 ms
56 - Query:
select post_id from wp_mcloud_post_map where post_url = 'https://ksstorm.info/wp-content/uploads/Certlogo.gif' order by post_id desc limit 1
Time: 0.189 ms
57 - Query:
select ID from wp_posts where post_type='attachment' and guid = 'https://ksstorm.info/wp-content/uploads/Certlogo.gif' order by ID desc limit 1
Time: 3.388 ms
58 - Query:
select ID from wp_posts where post_type='attachment' and guid like '%wp-content/uploads/Certlogo.gif' order by ID desc limit 1
Time: 5.697 ms
59 - Query:
SELECT post_id, meta_key, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE post_id IN (26673) ORDER BY meta_id ASC
Time: 0.422 ms
60 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.433 ms
61 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.103 ms
62 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.124 ms
63 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.074 ms
64 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.064 ms
65 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 26673 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.072 ms
66 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72124 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.271 ms
67 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72124 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.091 ms
68 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(19) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '968')
Time: 0.336 ms
69 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.151 ms
70 - Query:
SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = 72227 LIMIT 1
Time: 0.113 ms
71 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT(mp.page_id)
FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp
LEFT JOIN wp_posts p ON mp.page_id = p.ID
WHERE p.post_type IN('page', 'post')
Time: 0.200 ms
72 - Query:
SELECT DISTINCT(tr.object_id)
FROM wp_term_relationships tr
LEFT JOIN wp_posts p ON tr.object_id = p.ID
WHERE tr.term_taxonomy_id IN(
SELECT category_id
FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories
)
AND p.post_type IN('page', 'post')
Time: 0.094 ms
73 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(20,153) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '128006')
Time: 0.224 ms
74 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(20,153) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '128033')
Time: 0.187 ms
75 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(23) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '127306')
Time: 0.168 ms
76 - Query:
(SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_categories mc LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mc.membership_id = m.id WHERE mc.category_id IN(23) AND m.id IS NOT NULL) UNION (SELECT m.id, m.name FROM wp_pmpro_memberships_pages mp LEFT JOIN wp_pmpro_membership_levels m ON mp.membership_id = m.id WHERE mp.page_id = '127215')
Time: 0.186 ms
77 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_forms` where `status` = 'published' and `id` = '19' limit 1
Time: 0.228 ms
78 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where `form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` = 'formSettings' limit 1
Time: 0.183 ms
79 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where `form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` = '_ff_selected_style' limit 1
Time: 0.216 ms
80 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where `form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` in ('_custom_form_css', '_custom_form_js')
Time: 0.289 ms
81 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where `form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` in ('_ff_form_styler_css', '_ff_selected_style', 'ffs_default')
Time: 0.129 ms
82 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where (`form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` = 'ffs_default') limit 1
Time: 0.200 ms
83 - Query:
select * from `wp_fluentform_form_meta` where (`form_id` = '19' and `meta_key` = '_ff_form_styles') limit 1
Time: 0.151 ms
