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At the beginning of this weeks’ CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) session we were greeted and thanked by MIFD Chief Mike Murphy. The chief voiced his full support for Marco Islands’ citizen corps, and reinforced to us just how important our various support roles are, and how we will take part of the burden away from the fire and police departments as well as helping our fellow Marco neighbors.

Our class is made up of a very diverse group of Islanders. Some are retired, others work full time, or are students. We are about 50/50 male and female from all ages, with many full time residents as well as snowbirds. There are several retired law enforcement and fire officers, with a large percentage of former military. There is a retired physician and some of the class speaks more than one language. Several of our group comes from the building trades as well as public works. This evening one of our group will step from the students’ seat and become the instructor.

Lisa Lee Lower works in our building department, and she is an expert on the computer application ArcPad Disaster Assessment. This application allows field personal to collect residential, commercial and public facility damage easily using ArcPad loaded on to laptop computers that can be deployed into the field. This application was based on FEMA forms in use at the City of West Palm Beach, Florida after Hurricane Frances (2004) and customized for use in the City of Marco Island. Field personnel can efficiently capture needed data after an event or disaster requiring quick and accurate information acquisition.

Once the data is collected, it can easily be transferred to a central location for mapping and/or decision-making. Once assessed by our emergency management staff here it can be uploaded to state and federal agencies. The goal of the ArcPad Damage Team is to have the entire Island assessed within six hours after an event has cleared. The importance of this information gathered and sent is imperative for Marco to receive any needed help from FEMA.

The Island is divided into 16 areas with mapping detail that has every business and home address listed, along with a satellite picture overlap. Teams of three (a driver, a spotter, and a laptop complier) would be dispatched to visually check every address for a rapid assessment. Categories are simple; house or business listed as no damage, minor damage, major damage, or destroyed.

This information will give disaster management personnel a complete mapping of damage assessment, both business and residential, and to what degree of severity. It also defines which geographic area has major damage so resources can be allocated where they are most needed.

As CERT volunteers, we are all trained on the ArcPad program and can form the teams needed to cover the Island and gather this information within the six hour window.

Next weeks’ class: Light search and rescue.