My PI Alaska wraps up this week with earthquake scenario exercise

An 8.2 earthquake devastates the community-would you know how to respond? That was the scenario students faced as they put into practice what they had learned over the past 2 months as part of My PI Alaska.

This week marked the culmination of a six-week afterschool program for students who learned more about Emergency Preparedness and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, known as the My Preparedness Initiative (My PI) Alaska.

Talon Boeve, an Emergency Operations Center Specialist for the Mat-Su Borough Department of Emergency Services, lead the program, bring her experience as a prior CERT trainer, as well as participating in the My PI Instructor course during a national instructor course.

“Since part of the My PI training includes the CERT training, they thought I would be a good fit for that,” Boeve explained.

Over the course, students learned triage, scene safety, search and rescue, how to safely put out a fire, recognize terrorism and community threats.

Thursday, students worked in teams of 3 as they navigated an earthquake scenario and the different dangers many face, such as medical emergencies, gas leaks, and fires, as well as safely securing a mannequin from debris and destruction.

“I had my children take the class because my husband is a responder and when there is an emergency, I want them to know they need to do to help others. They’re young, willing, and able,” said Amber Manley, whose sons Jeremy and Dakota participated in the class. Manley went one step further, volunteering to be a “victim” that the teams needed to triage and treat.

“She (Boeve) does a good job teaching, and it’s pretty fun when we do the activities. We learned a lot,” said Jeremey Manley before the practical application exercise, while his brother Dakota added “it was a good class, we had fun.”

Members of Mat-Su Emergency Services, West Lakes Fire Department were on hand to monitor the students while statewide My PI Program Coordinator Ron Swartz was on-hand observing everything.

In addition to the scenario, students also had to take a written test and show that they had also assisted 6 neighbors in establishing emergency preparedness kits.

“This is about building individuals in the community that are going to be there when an incident occurs that already understand the basic principles of how to stabilize the situation before first responders show up.”

In all, 12 students graduated and will be ready to be safe, identify hazards, and have skill sets to call upon to give back to their communities in times of need.

The response has been more than Boeve expected, especially since the Mat-Su Borough is second only to Valdez to offer this program.

This was the first My PI class for the Mat-Su Borough, and Boeve encourages people to continue contact as they for upcoming for summer classes.

For more information about the My PI classes, please contact Talon Boeve at (907) 861-8316, or talon.boeve@matsugov.us. There is also information about the program available on the “My PI Alaska” Facebook page.