Whitfield County Volunteer Groups Hold Search/Rescue Exercise

“Joe” had hiked the Pinhoti Trail for years. It was like a home away from home for the 76-year-old man.

The storm clouds moving in from the west that night didn’t particularly bother him. He had hiked in the rain and wind  plenty of times before.

This time was different, though. Joe had to scramble to find shelter under a rock as he heard the frantic rumblings of the approaching tornado. 

“It really does sound like a freight train,” he thought to himself.

Fortunately, the F4 tornado skipped over Joe’s hiding spot off Dug Gap Mountain Road, but during its dance across the ground elsewhere, the western and southern portions of the county weren’t so fortunate, suffering major damage to trees and buildings.

In fact, 75 percent of Whitfield County was soon without power.

The next morning, the 911 Center received a call from a worried relative that Joe had been hiking the evening before and had not returned home. The family was hysterical, fearful that Joe had been hurt by the mighty winds of the twister.

With  all available city and county public safety staff already working feverishly in the aftermath of the storm, authorities decided to call on volunteers from CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) to search for the elderly man.

Their training that had taken place months and, in some cases, years earlier paid off when they located Joe, treated him for minor injuries, and transported him to safety. (Joe was portrayed by volunteer Gene Gilreath, and the staging area was in the lower parking lot 4 at the Trade Center.)

You didn’t hear about this rescue effort in the news because it was actually just a Search and Rescue Exercise held on March 28, planned and coordinated by Dave Senters (CERT), Greg Williams (CERT/ARES), and Rial Sloan (ARES). Standing by to observe the volunteers in action were Jeff Ownby, deputy director of Whitfield Emergency Management Agency, and personnel from the Dalton and Whitfield County fire departments.

“The exercise was great,” Mr. Ownby said, “and a complete success. CERT and ARES worked well together throughout the exercise. CERT searched, located, treated and transported the lost hiker to safety. During this event ARES coordinated the communications using a variety of amateur radio technologies.” 

The Search Team included Task Force Leader David Freiberg, Emergency Medical Responder Christina Byrd, Bill Robinson, Kathy Muller, Marcy Muller, Gary Casper, Jon Wakefield, Christian Chadwick, and Jim McDonald.

Amateur radio operators and CERT members set up a communications base. CERT members were dispatched to the Pinhoti Trail where it intersects with Dug Gap Battle Road to begin the search. An amateur radio operator was stationed close to this intersection to facilitate communication between the CERT members and the amateur radio/CERT personnel stationed at the staging area. 

A mobile relay station was placed near the top of Dug Gap Mountain a short distance north of the search area. In addition to VHF simplex, the Command Post and relay station were linked with D-RATS over VHF Packet. The D-RATS used a digital mode which would provide more secure communications and allow hard copy to be printed. The command post D-RATS was also linked via a cell phone WIFI hot spot to the Internet and would have been able to send standard e-mail messages if necessary.

Many CERT members have also gained their Amateur Radio Technician licenses so that they can communicate on the amateur radio frequencies. 

Ms. Byrd and Mr. Senters attended Emergency Medical Responder class last year hosted by Whitfield County Fire Department, and Mr. Freiberg, Mr. Casper, Mr. Wakefield, and Mr. Chadwick are attending an EMR class with Whitfield Fire now through May.

Mr. Freiberg started with CERT training and recently completed Whitfield Fire’s Recruit Class training to become a volunteer firefighter, and Mr. Wakefield and Mr. Chadwick just joined the county fire department and will be going through Recruit Class this year into next year.

“These three people are just an example of how CERT has migrated folks from a community program to volunteers within public safety,” Mr. Ownby said.

CERT offers risk and hazard awareness training at no cost through Whitfield County Emergency Management and is designed to help residents protect themselves, their family and their immediate community in the event of a major situation in their neighborhood.

Already, 208 residents have completed CERT training in previous sessions, and Whitfield Emergency Management is looking for about 25 more people to take part in CERT Academy 12 that was originally scheduled for February but had to be postponed because of ice and snow.

Officials have reset Academy 12 for Thursday, May 14  from 6-10 p.m., and Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Spots are still available.

“CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can and do make a difference,” Mr. Ownby said.  

"While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger, therefore minimizing their risk of bodily injury and simply becoming another victim.”

Participants will be trained in Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety and Fire Extinguishers, First Aid and Disaster Medical, Light Search and Rescue, Incident Command, Disaster Psychology, Terrorism Awareness, and more.

“I think this Search and Rescue Exercise is proof that the CERT training is worthwhile,” Mr. Ownby said.

You can register for CERT Academy 12 at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CERT_Academy12_Registration.

For more information, contact Whitfield EMA at 706-259-3730 or cert@whitfieldcountyga.com.