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Retired nurse wants area to be prepared


STACEY EIDSON
Herald Staff Writer
LAKEWOOD RANCH - for disaster

Following the tragic deaths of 19 people from violent tornados that ripped through central Florida earlier this month, Joan Robbins thought her phone would be ringing off the hook.

"I really thought I would be inundated with telephone calls and e-mails. I had one," said Robbins, a member of the emergency preparedness committee, which is organizing Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, classes in Lakewood Ranch. "I think people who live in paradise really don't want to think about awful things. But awful things can happen, so we need to be prepared."

In 2004, when Robbins moved from Maryland to Lakewood Ranch with her husband, they had never spent much time in the Sunshine State, but was soon told a familiar old folk legend about living along Florida's west coast.

"I heard that the Native Americans who lived in Florida always came to the Sarasota area during the summertime because it was so safe and there were no storms here," Robbins said. "I was told, 'If they can do it, we can do it.' "

Then, the summer of 2004 rolled around.

"All of a sudden, we had Charley and three other storms in 2004," Robbins said. "And I said, 'This is really bad. I need to do something.' "

After attending several community meetings in Lakewood Ranch, Robbins was surprised to learn that much of Lakewood Ranch's government structure was voluntarily run and developed by its residents.

"I'm used to a city and a mayor, so this was new to me," Robbins said. "I kept asking, 'What kind of plans are in place for emergencies?' because I had hurricanes on my mind. And I recognized that there really wasn't anything which concerned me."

As a recently retired nurse who had spent more than 40 years in the profession, Robbins knew that Lakewood Ranch needed to develop an emergency plan to take care of its residents. She persuaded the community to create an emergency preparedness committee that would include a representative from each of the villages within Lakewood Ranch.

Robbins began meeting with people from other communities, such as University Park and The Meadows, to discuss how they developed their emergency preparedness plan.

Soon after, the emergency preparedness committee in Lakewood Ranch asked Laurie Feagans, the chief of emergency management of Manatee County, to attend one of its meetings.

"Laurie made it clear that in the event of a widespread disaster in Manatee County that the professional first responders would need to take care of the outlying islands and waterfront residents that would be impacted by water surge as well as wind," Robbins said. "As for Lakewood Ranch, given that we are so far removed from the shore, she said that they might not be able to get to us for quite some time."

Therefore, Feagans said it was imperative for the community to be able to provide the emergency management department with a true damage assessment of the area after a storm.

"They would need to know whether or not we needed shelter and bottled water and food pallets," Robbins said. "And they would need to know the number of injuries that people sustained and whether or not we needed specific types of immediate response which they could probably provide sooner."

Feagans told the committee about the CERT program, which is designed to educate individual residents on how to respond to their neighbors and government in the aftermath of a disaster.

"The training could be used in a hurricane, a wildfire or a tornado," Robbins said. "But it can also be used for things like a biohazard problem or a spill on Interstate 75 of a toxic substance."

The classes also teach basic skills that people should know to take care of their family and neighbors. For instance, Robbins recalled a friend who had told her about a terrible accident her neighbor experienced while trimming vegetation in his yard.

"The neighbor was using a chainsaw and it slipped," Robbins said. "And he cut his arm very badly and he was hemorrhaging. She panicked."

Fortunately, another neighbor rushed to the scene and bandaged the man's arm, stopped the bleeding and rushed him to the hospital.

"Even just basic CERT training would teach someone what to do in the event of a major cut or another incident at home, like a pool accident," Robbins said.

Feagans said Lakewood Ranch could not have a more enthusiastic and determined organizer of the CERT classes than Robbins.

"She is incredible and she understands the importance of this kind of training," Feagans said. "She really knows how to get people involved."

In order to test the preparedness of Lakewood Ranch, Feagans said she and Robbins discussed staging a large-scale simulation of a disastrous storm next year.

"Whenever you create a plan, you have to exercise it. That is critical," Feagans said. "And we have learned that here in Florida, just because Lakewood Ranch is in East Manatee, that doesn't mean they won't experience damage. All areas are going to be hit by wind during a major storm."

Robbins is also wisely setting the goal of recruiting at least one person from each of the more than 80 neighborhoods in Lakewood Ranch to begin CERT training, Feagans said.

"You can't bite it off in one big chunk," Feagans said. "You have to build your CERT program, one step at a time."

Since Lakewood Ranch is only allotted 20 spots in Manatee County's upcoming CERT classes in March and May, Robbins said one of her initial requirements for individuals signing up for the training is they must agree to also take American Red Cross CPR training and automatic electronic defibrillator classes.

Robbins also said she is looking for Lakewood Ranch residents who are in the area all year long to help build a solid team.

"I've estimated we need somewhere between 300 and 500 trained people before we can have a really workable emergency response team," Robbins said.

After retiring from nursing in June 2004, Robbins said she was surprised to discover how much she missed taking care of people.

"I was born to be a nurse," Robbins said. "From the time I was a little girl, I was the person that people would call if someone was sick. I was the one who would clean up anything."

By helping organize the CERT team in Lakewood Ranch, Robbins said she is beginning to feel complete again.

"I realized that it is not so much that I miss the patients, but I'm missing the feeling of contributing to somebody else's life," Robbins said. "Getting involved in CERT training is fulfilling that need."

Robbins encourages anyone interested in the CERT training to contact her at 929-2995.