Joyce Kane - Special to the Sun

Students in the Friday SERT (Student Emergency Response Training) class at Kern Valley High School have made tremendous progress since Feb. 8, when they learned to use fire extinguishers outside near the boys’ varsity baseball field. Since March 14 and throughout April, Fridays are now minimum days at KVHS, so the 3rd and 4th periods have been combined to accommodate the extensive SERT training modules.

After returning from spring break, the SERT class continued studying Disaster Medical Operations, with Dean Ott teaching in place of Tom Klein, who took time off after his back surgery in February. On Friday, April 4, Ott reviewed the entire SERT course with the class and Klein supervised a back-boarding demonstration.

SERT students strap class instructor Dean Ott to a strecher in a back-boarding demonstration under the watchful eye of SERT instructor Tom Klein.

Next week, the students will take their SERT final exam, so Klein brought in CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) manuals for the students to borrow and study from at home. Klein told the class he is working on getting backpacks from Michigan State University, each one worth $100 and filled with PPE’s (Personal Protective Equipment), a first aid kit, 4-in-1 tool wrench, whistle and compass. Every student who passes the exam will receive a backpack for free, and a certificate showing they graduated from SERT training. All certified students will automatically become CERT members when they turn 18.

In the fire suppression class on Feb. 8, the SERT students were really excited to finally get some hands-on training, but many stepped way back when Klein got out a large propane torch and lit a barrel filled with water and gasoline on fire. Will Sherman, a 17-year-old junior in the ECHO (Exploring Careers in Health Occupations)Academy, was the first to volunteer. He and Tiffany Allen, 16, also a junior in ECHO, learned to use the buddy system to put out a fire.

Sherman called out, 'Going in!' as he led, while Allen held his shoulder and carried a second fire extinguisher for backup. Ott explained that the backup person, or buddy, should be the ’Äòeyes’ for the pair, to make sure that no one trips over debris while exiting the scene. 'You’ve got to have faith in your buddy,' he said. Sherman demonstrated the 'P-A-S-S' method (Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep) with the extinguisher. He seemed confident as well as agile, probably due to his ballroom dancing experience. Sherman said he learned to dance by watching his grandmother and father.

Cassie DeGroot, 16 and studying hard in SERT class on her way to becoming a nurse or radiologist, stepped up and volunteered to use a fire extinguisher three times. 'Perfect! That was excellent,' Ott told her. He encouraged every student with a compliment after they put out the flames. Allen volunteered twice and Kary Hernandez, 17, who also wants to become an RN, was brave when her fire extinguisher ran out. Students clapped when she got a new one.

On April 4, DeGroot explained how much she and the class have learned in SERT since February. The students have done everything from splinting broken arms and learning how to wrap a sling, to determining a damaged building’s structural safety, creating a triage area at a disaster site, or handling various kinds of chemical threats and decontamination, and how to cope with the stress of victims’ trauma and take care of themselves during a disaster.

Allen said she got 100 percent on all the SERT tests, and that learning to splint was really useful to her. Allen’s mother was a CNA at Kern Valley Hospital for four years. 'I like following in her footsteps,' Allen explained.

DeGroot and Sherman were both excited about a new electronic testing method that Tom Cormack, lead ECHO instructor, is trying out in the SERT class. Several weeks ago, Cormack took 70 ECHO students to the auditorium for team building. He put SERT questions on a 20 by 30-foot screen and the students played Jeopardy in teams of four by pressing buttons on hand-held remotes. Cormack tracks the percentage of students who get certain questions wrong, so this material can be gone over again in more depth.

On April 4, after Ott reviewed all the instruction modules in the SERT class, the students watched a video about moving injured people by using three types of carries: Pack Strap, Seat Carry and Clothes Drag.

Klein then supervised teaching the students how to place a victim with a head or spinal injury on a backboard. Several students strapped Ott onto a long, hard, plastic backboard with handles and Velcro spider straps. Other students took pictures for the EHCO Academy. DeGroot got right into the action and helped secure the straps while Ott and Klein instructed how to stabilize his head with square pads. Klein synchronized the students as they lifted up Ott on the backboard.

Ott explained that victims are often very frightened when strapped down and need to be reassured. He complimented the girl who asked him if the straps were too tight and finished the class by saying, 'You guys are really, really awesome. I want you to dazzle us all with your test results.'