Camarillo Disaster Assistance Response Team puts emphasis on preparedness
By Eliav Appelbaum eliav@theacorn.com

Pat Frovarp was born prepared.

In Army-green cargo pants, sturdy black shoes and tan uniform, Frovarp is the contact Camarillo calls in case of emergency.

Frovarp is one of only two people who have served with the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) of Camarillo since its inception in March 1990. The response team is a group of welltrained community volunteers who answer the call for help from the office of emergency services, including police, fire or rescue efforts during large-scale natural disasters.

"They work more behind the scenes," said Kelly Ryan, the volunteer coordinator for the Camarillo Police Department.

After the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the Bay Area in 1989, the city decided it needed its own communitybased team of emergency volunteers.

The response team has been called out to duty during many emergencies, including the Northridge earthquake in 1994.

The group also helps the police department at the Christmas Parade, the Fourth of July fireworks show, the Fiesta Days Parade and the Point Mugu Air Show.

Frovarp has helped people in need since 1977, working as a medical technician in ambulances, a volunteer firefighter and now as a response team assistant captain, among various jobs.

On Sept. 5, Frovarp and response team captain Bill Foeller spoke to residents of Casa Del Norte, a senior mobile home park, about how they could be better prepared in emergencies.

The seminar was an appropriate refresher course for longtime residents and also vital for newer members of the community. The seminar took place about two months after a woman died in a fire in her home.

Casa Del Norte residents were pleased with how the seminar went.

"We haven't had this type of information passed on in several years. I know I feel much more prepared," said eightyear resident Dolores Villano.

For years, Casa Del Norte residents had full participation in an emergency preparedness committee. For a variety of reasons, participation in the group dwindled, but Villano wants to revive a similar organization for the neighborhood.

"We have to keep a program going," Villano said. "There's so much turnover here. There's a good number of people who are unaware of all the training we need to get it up and going. . . . We have a good group of people who are ready to help each other. But we need to better prepare our residents."

During the seminar, Frovarp and Foeller informed the audience about the history of the response team in Camarillo and then went into detail about what each home needed, from stockpiling fresh water to maintaining reliable smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

"The most important thing we stress is personal safety," Foeller told his audience. "You have to take care of yourself. When we do large-scale drills, I watch the rescuers working to make sure they're safe."

"You can replace your (house), but you can't replace yourself or your spouse," Frovarp said.

Response team volunteers must undergo 80 hours of training in basic life support, first aid and CPR; urban search and rescue; incident command system (ICS); traffic and crowd control; fire suppression; scene survey and damage assessment; and mass casualty management and triage.

With a team of 20 volunteers, the response team would like to get the number closer to 30, the maximum number the city allows. DART also wants to continue giving disaster preparedness seminars.

Though there has not been a recent local disaster, Frovarp said it is still important to be prepared.

"Apathy in this country is rampant. The only thing that wakes people up is when something happens," Frovarp said.

"On the one or twoyear anniversary of the Northridge earthquake, people were ready. But 10, 12 years later, is anyone ready? Maybe a smattering of people. It takes an incident to wake people up. I hate to say it, but that's a fact of life."

For additional information or to schedule a preparedness seminar, call (805) 388-5129.