With the wide variety of natural disasters that can occur year-round in the Santa Cruz Mountains there continues to be a heightened importance to keep residents informed and ready to prepare for floods, mudslides, earthquakes, etc.
This October, the San Lorenzo Valley Emergency Network (SLVEN) turns 10 years old, and the all-volunteer nonprofit is celebrating its continued mission to educate, organize, and coordinate the community to help prepare for and respond to emergencies, particularly natural disasters and other threats to life and property.
One of SLVEN’s founding members and current Chair, Liz Taylor-Selling, explained the history of how the nonprofit took shape and what makes it different from other emergency preparedness groups. According to Taylor-Selling, SLVEN was formed as a result of combining two similar groups, the San Lorenzo Valley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Mountain Neighbor Network, both which were run out of Mountain Community Resources. Taylor-Selling, who at the time worked with MCR, decided it made sense to combine the two groups because they both had similar missions— provide education on disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact the area. Once SLVEN was established, it has since separated from MCR to be its own nonprofit.
“At that time, there were no other programs like this in the San Lorenzo Valley, so we were in our small stages,” Taylor-Selling said. “But we met and we have met consistently every month since April 2008, rain or shine, it’s sort of like, nursing a seed along, they keep growing and they seem to be of value.”
What makes SLVEN unique is it stresses the continued education of what is learned in CERT classes and other emergency preparedness courses. CERT, which formed in 1993, is part of FEMA’s National CERT Program, administered by a local sponsoring agency, providing standardized training and implementation framework to community members. The basic idea is to use CERT to perform a large number of tasks needed in emergencies. This frees highly trained professional responders for more technical tasks. Much of CERT training concerns the Incident Command System and organization, so CERT members fit easily into larger command structures. As part of the monthly SLVEN meetings, members refresh their training on CERT practices, among other things.
“Think of it like CERT is getting the elementary, fundamentals down and then you graduate to SLVEN to take people beyond CERT,” Taylor-Selling.
The importance of continued education was what prompted Jenn Hooker, who lives in Live Oak and works as a librarian with the Santa Cruz Public Library system, to get involved with SLVEN.
“I took my CERT training at Central Fire Protection District but my trainer essentially said whatever skills I have learned will dwindle unless I continue to practice and keep them up,” Hooker said. “So this is when I joined SLVEN in 2015. I wanted to keep my skills honed and fresh.” Hooker, who has been a member of SLVEN for almost four years is also currently Vice-Chair on the group’s board of directors.
Currently, the group has approximately 20 members. Some members are CERT certified, others are certified in Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), and some are not formally trained at all. There is no requirement from SLVEN to have any certification, but getting trained in one of the various programs is encouraged. The meetings go over things such as how to test for water purification, tasting emergency rations, and practicing what to do in the event of a mudslide or flood this winter.
“SLVEN is about knowing something as simple as when to go into water and when to not go into water; when to shut off your gas and water; when to start sand bagging,” Hooker said. “There are a lot of small skills that people do not think of as being useful in natural disasters but when you put them all together suddenly you have this tool belt of skills that will help you and your neighbors.”
Beyond the monthly meetings aimed to keep members educated on disaster preparedness, SLVEN hosts informational booths at several community events, has members work as crossing guards during Halloween for the trick-or-treaters, and work as crowd control during the Felton Remembers Parade on Memorial Day Weekend. The group works closely with Felton Fire and other county emergency workers, so the first responders know if they see a SLVEN member with their vests on there is an additional help that can be used.
Taylor-Selling, who has lived in Felton Grove for almost 35 years, knows firsthand the importance of being prepared for floods and other disasters. “The flooding of the San Lorenzo River is an issue, and although people might not think of that as a huge national disaster it does affect a lot of people,” said Taylor-Selling.
According to Taylor-Selling, having a network of people living in the community who are trained in CERT or ARES is vital, especially in a place like the San Lorenzo Valley.
“If you look at Santa Cruz County and the number of disasters it has had over the last 40 years, we see the San Lorenzo Valley impacted more by disasters than any other part of the County,” Taylor-Selling said. “In some respects, the Valley and our County is a microcosm or test case for this kind of stuff.”
While the work of SLVEN is to be a network in the community to help prepare and handle disasters, Taylor-Selling also pointed out a key part of CERT training is to know when a task is too big to handle.
“We are not training people to do something that will put them in harm’s way,” Taylor-Selling said. “We are giving them parameters that if it is ‘this big’ try and handle it and if it is too big to call 911 or get further assistance. There is a lot of focus on prep and education on response and recovery.”
Earlier this year, SLVEN participated in part in the county’s Urban Shield: Yellow Command training activity in Felton. The stimulation was to practice how to prepare to shelter people after a major earthquake. Taylor-Selling participated in the activity and said it helped prepare her by teaching her what she needed to bring next time and gave her a better mindset on what to expect in a similar situation.
“The more skills you have as an individual the less reliant you are on emergency services in time of a disaster,” Hooker said. “If you have water, have food, have batteries and a flashlight, emergency workers can go in and help someone who is in more dire need. When you have people in the community who are invested in their trainings and keeping their skills to date it gives a nod to the emergency workers and legitimizes their work.”
To recognize 10 years of community service, SLVEN is hosting an anniversary meeting on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at Cal Fire Training Room, off Gushee Street behind the main Cal Fire building at 6059 Hwy 9, in Felton. The meeting will have food, drinks, and speakers from service providers around the County. A list will be presented on the top 10 things SLVEN has been responsible for helping with.
For more information on SLVEN: https://sites.google.com/view/slven/home
To join or help in any of the activities this fall: [email protected].
