ABOUT

I am passionate about emergency preparedness and Los Angeles is prone to 13 of the 16 Federally-identified natural disasters and man-made threats. Just to name a few, Los Angeles is vulnerable to wildfires, flooding, mudslides, tsunamis and earthquakes. 

     I have secretly always wanted to be a Firefighter. I was the little girl who couldn’t miss an episode of Emergency in the 70’s. I was in love with Johnny Gage, played by Randy Mantooth. He played a Paramedic for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

     In 2008 I read an article in the LA Weekly about CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). The article encouraged LA Residents to take this class. CERT is run by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) and taught by Firefighters all over the city all year long and it’s absolutely free. Of course, they had me at “Firefighter.” I didn’t know the significance of the what they were teaching, all I knew was that a Firefighter was going to be teaching me something. The CERT classs changed the course of my life.

     The class taught me how to prepare an emergency kit and how to implement an emergency plan for me and my family. I learned how to be of service to my community by learning light search & rescue, triage, basic first-aid, and fire suppression. Throughout the class, I was reminded that when a significant sized earthquake hits Los Angeles, the Fire Department expects LA Residents to be able to take care of ourselves, our family, and our community for at least three to seven days. Basically, the Firefighter kept saying, “We’re not coming! We’re not coming to save you.”

     Since 2008, I have attended many drills, sponsored by the LAFD. The drills are designed for CERT members to practice their skills they learned in class. I have trained and drilled with Firefighters, Paramedics, and the LAPD in a recent Active Shooter drill.

     In 2014, I became an EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) through the American Red Cross. That same year, I became CERT Coordinator for Battalion 5 in Hollywood. One of my responsibilities in the Coordinator role is to promote and encourage my friends, family, and co-workers, to take the CERT class. I email, post in social media, and send out invitations. People always have great intentions to take the class. Unfortunately, the main theme that keeps coming up for people is time. People don't have time, they have busy lives; they have kids, jobs, after school programs, yoga class, spinning, etc. 

     I saw an opportunity. I started helping friends and family by doing one-on-ones with them in their homes. I gave them tips on what to do in case of an emergency, I helped them plan for El Niño. I showed them where their utilities were and how and when to shut them off during a disaster. It became a passion.