Wauconda is emergency-ready

One might think that Mike Wahl, a resident born and raised in Wauconda, automatically feels an innate sense of duty to protect the village he lives in.

And one could argue that as captain, executive officer and special projects coordinator for the chief of the Wauconda Fire District, as well as the director of emergency management for the village of Wauconda, it is his job to protect the village he lives in.

It also is his job to follow orders, and when Wauconda Fire District Chief Dave Dato asked Wahl to look into a program called the Community Emergency Response Team about six years ago, Wahl had the opportunity to fulfill all of those duties.

The CERT concept was created in Los Angeles, Calif., and eventually adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The national program teaches civilians basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety and search and rescue. Many communities throughout the U.S. have implemented CERT teams.

But not many operate like the one that Wahl started and continues to manage in the village of Wauconda.

“I’m familiar with CERT programs,” said Dave Geary, public works director for Wauconda. Geary’s background includes 18 years as the assistant administrator of Los Angeles County’s Office of Emergency Management – a job where he oversaw the emergency planning for 96 cities.

“The thing Mike has done differently here is, he’s made a self-sustaining program,” Geary said. “I’ve never seen it like this, and I’ve seen a lot of CERT programs … . The volunteers – and he’s inspired this – the volunteers help and maintain the program. [They] help with recruitment, training, organization – I think he’s allowed them to feel responsible. It’s that kind of thing that sets his program apart.”

Traci Smith, for example, has been a local CERT member for five years. The 40-year-old said she joined the team to help her community and also to meet people. Now, she works as Wahl’s CERT coordinator, as well.

“The fact of the matter is, Mike has developed a group of people that are there when you need them, and that’s probably one of the most important things is the consistency of availability,” Dato said. “He’s a motivator. Mike’s able to motivate those folks to do things and stay involved in their community.”

Wahl’s CERT members – currently a group of about 50 – often help with many of Wauconda’s festivals, parades and other special events by supplementing public safety, Wahl said.

But they’ve come in handy during more dire situations, like the attempted burglary that took place at the Wauconda Community Bank last year. At the time, there was a bomb threat, Wahl said, and CERT members immediately responded to help secure the perimeter and direct traffic at some of the lower profile intersections nearby, freeing up police officers to handle the situation.

“No community really has the resources to do everything on its own, so when you have community volunteers to supplement police activities, fire activities, it helps out us out,” Dato said. “One, because things we’re doing generally go better, and two, with strained budgets right now, it helps from having to stretch any further, [having] people stepping further just to help out. I think from that stand point [the CERT program] has been good.”

Wahl just began a new CERT class with 24 volunteers on Feb. 17. His new recruits will complete seven classes covering various topics of disaster training, and after about 24 hours of instruction, they will have completed Tier 1 training, Wahl said.

From there, they can stop and rest assured they are better prepared to handle minor situations – like shutting off water and electricity in buildings – and more serious situations, like emergency first aid. No other participation is required, Wahl said.

Or, they can participate in a few extra activities and become team members and get added to Wahl’s contact list if a bigger emergency pops up.

“That’s kind of the neat thing about the CERT program under FEMA,” Wahl said. “They really don’t give you any guidelines … but once [people] have gone through the education, it’s entirely up to the municipality or agency to use them as they want to. Some communities teach them and never use them. We like to use them as much as possible because they are a valued resource in the community.”

“It’s kind of reassuring from a public works perspective,” Geary said. “If you need them, they come, and they like to come. They even like the little- to no-notice things, because it reinforces the idea that they can handle difficult [situations].”

Dato said Wahl is the “spark plug” of a program that has the appreciation of several departments throughout Wauconda.

Wahl said he simply likes working with quality individuals and coordinating their efforts through CERT.

"It's one of those programs that the people involved are just great people who want to help their community," Wahl said. "They're all doing it for the right reasons. It's nice to be around them on a weekly basis or a monthly basis and working side by side with them."

Getting to know ... Capt. Mike Wahl

Occupation: Captain, executive officer and special projects coordinator for the chief of the Wauconda Fire District; director of emergency management for the village of Wauconda
Age: 46
Family: Wife, Pam; and two sons, Scott, 20, and David, 17
Village of residence: Wauconda
Education and credentials: Wyoming Technical Institute, automotive technician; Arlington Fire Academy, firefighter II and technical trench rescue; Illinois Department of Public Health, paramedic; Office of Illinois State Fire Marshal, apparatus engineer, firefighter III, hazardous materials technician, fire officer I and II, fire prevention officer I, instructor I and II; and more
Hobbies: Wood working and home brew