First aid
This is something I cannot stress enough. In case of disaster, medical facilities and personnel will be overwhelmed with casualties, accidents, and illnesses. You may not even be able to get to a hospital or get 911 to respond. If it’s your child or spouse who is sick or injured, it may be on you to be medical professional. Even if you band together with like-minded friends, and have a medical professional (EMT, Nurse, Doctor) that person may not be standing at your elbow when sudden disaster strikes, so you must cross train in everything.
A first aid/CPR class is invaluable and can be used for the rest of your life. I learned years ago in the Army, and while I haven’t kept up my Red Cross certification card, I still remember how it all works. So in case of emergency, I have the confidence and training to handle any simple problems that come up. Obviously I’m not going to attempt surgery or dentistry, but there are books and supplies available to study, so if worst came to worst, and no professional medical personnel were available, I might attempt to save someone’s life if I had to.
There is a group in this area that is called Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). You can look them up online. Normally I would give a link here, but, apparently it tends to move around so you will have to find them yourself. I would recommend the Modesto city web page to start as it is usually hosted by the local fire department. They train people for “Emergency Response” Duh! But this could include fires, floods, and earthquakes, all forms of natural and (presumably) manmade disasters. I plan on attending myself as soon as I’m able, so maybe I’ll see you there.
If nowhere else, you can try the local Junior College for classes.
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