Central County Fire Department gets Mandarin-language training

Offering individuals the skill set to deal with emergency situations in Mandarin helped the 21 participants — who were majority bilingual — understand the cultural and language differences that might have an impact while communicating urgent information or assisting one’s neighbors. 

“There’s lots of Chinese-speaking population in San Mateo County. With the culture difference, how do people react, what kind of needs do they have … with disaster preparedness?” Chuang said. 

Some participants came to the class to learn emergency response skills in a language with which they’re more familiar, while others were already-qualified instructors who spoke some Mandarin and wanted to learn response-specific terminology — for example, translating words like triage, Chuang said. 

“It’s education on both ends,” he said. 

CERT-trained residents can be deployed in case of emergency and learn the skills to help in an emergency before trained professionals arrive, taking courses in light search and rescue, disaster medical operations, and how to stop bleeding. And community volunteers helped support the students, with Lions Club Youth Group members acting the part of victims for the final exercise.

“The more folks that we can teach vital life safety skills, the better off our communities are going to be,” Dena Gunning, CCFD community response and resiliency specialist, said. “We are the first responders until the professionals arrive.” 

Hosting a CERT training in Mandarin is part of the county’s larger goal to make emergency services as inclusive as possible. County residents can sign up for an emergency alerts system offered in English, Spanish and simplified Chinese here. Spanish-language CERT training is offered by the Menlo Park Fire District and the Coastside Fire Protection District, part of a collaborative effort to offer services in as many languages as possible. 

Strides toward inclusivity in disaster preparedness also extends into the training itself, Gunning said, as participants learn to be aware of and assist community members with differing needs. 

“We also want people to be aware of how to help folks that have disabilities or access and functional needs in the community, or maybe they have pets,” she said. “We also want to encourage folks to help others that need help, and asking them how they would like to be helped.” 

Those of all physical abilities are welcome to taking the training course, Chuang said, which is currently offered three times a year by CCFD — twice in English and now, once in Mandarin. 

“Everybody can take the class, everybody can take the same training. When there’s a deployment, it doesn’t matter your physical condition, there’s always a way to help the community,” he said.