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National Capital Region
CERTCON 2023
Our planning is underway.
Check back frequently for updates.
CERTCON began in 2011 from an idea by Greg St. James of Montgomery County Maryland CERT who wanted a way for CERT members in the national capital region to meet and train with people from other jurisdictions. The first CERTCON was held in Silver Spring, MD and featured a keynote talk by Craig Fugate the then FEMA Administrator.
In the ensuing years, an annual CERTCON has been hosted by multiple CERT organizations in the area, including Fairfax, VA, Washington, D.C., Prince Georges County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Georgetown University, and the City of Alexandria.
While the conference has grown each year in size and scope, our fundamental purpose remains the same: To form lasting partnerships with fellow CERTs and facilitate our ability to work together should disasters strike.
In 2022, we were pleased that CERTCON was hosted by the National Capitol Region CERT Consortium (NCR CERT) for the first time. The NCR CERT Consortium is an organization that grew directly from the bonds of professional friendships formed over the years at CERTCON. We look forward to another wonderful conference in 2023, and the chance to meet friends old and new.
The short slideshow video below demonstrates our wonderful volunteers of CERTCON over the years. Everyone participating in the work, including the presenters, are 100% volunteers.
Most are members of the regional CERTs, who begin planning shortly after the New Year’s holiday season, with teams working through the days of the CERTCON events to provide everyone with meaningful and enjoyable opportunities to learn and to meet others.
As we all know, the time to meet other disaster responders is before the disaster happens, not during.
Director of Communications for Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown
Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA)
President, University of the District of Columbia
Jennifer Donelan is the Director of Communications for Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown. She joined the Office of the Attorney General in Spring of 2023. Jennifer is a twenty-year, Emmy award-winning former broadcast journalist who worked at WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, WDIV-TV in Detroit, and then as a National Correspondent based out of Chicago for all CBS affiliates across the country.
Her national and international assignments included Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 presidential election, space shuttle Discovery’s return to flight and the death of Pope John Paul II. She then returned home to the DMV, where she had grown up in Fairfax County, and spent a decade at ABC 7 News covering crime, police and fire in Washington, D.C.. She later joined the I-Team as an investigative reporter.
Throughout her award-winning television news career, her primary area of reporting was focused on matters of public safety. In 2016, she left reporting and became the Director of the Media Relations Division for Prince George’s County Police, one of the top thirty largest police departments in the United States. She expanded her work in communications in the field of public safety in 2020 when she took over as Director of Public Information for the Prince George’s County Fire/Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department. In August of 2021, she joined DC Fire and EMS as the agency’s Chief Communications Officer.
In addition to managing the Media and Community Relations Division, media and incident responses, and serving as an advisor to the Executive Division, Jennifer helped lead the agency’s unprecedented efforts in celebrating its’ 150th anniversary with a parade along Constitution Avenue and a memorial for the department’s 102 Line of Duty Deaths at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. She also helped spearhead the agency’s first in-person awards ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center recognizing the heroic work of the men and women of DC Fire and EMS throughout the pandemic and beyond.
Since 2017, Donelan has served as the host of the United States Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) podcast, “The Beat.” Donelan is also the proud recipient of a Woman’s Day magazine Red Dress Award for her contributions in women’s heart health advocacy. Jennifer is a member of the board for Special Olympics Maryland and is a proud member of the Potomac (VA) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated. She has appeared on NBC’s “Dateline”, ABC’s “20/20”, HBO’s “Black and Missing”, and has been featured in numerous national magazines for her prior reporting and her advocacy in raising awareness of women’s heart disease.
Dr. Christopher Rodriguez is the Director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA). In this role, Dr. Rodriguez serves as the Homeland Security Advisor and State Coordinating Officer for the District of Columbia. He also is the State Administrative Agent for all homeland security federal grants funding for the District and the National Capital Region. He led the agency through the COVID-19 Pandemic, the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, and numerous other critical incidents and planned special events. HSEMA is responsible for emergency planning, preparedness, response, and recovery for the city. HSEMA houses the District’s Emergency Operations Center, District Watch Center, and the District Fusion Center.
Prior to HSEMA, Dr. Rodriguez served as Director of New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness from 2014-17, where he led statewide strategies, policies, and operations on counterterrorism, resiliency, and cybersecurity. While serving in New Jersey, his home state, Dr. Rodriguez led the office during a national rise in homegrown violent extremism and established close relationships with the private sector and federal, state, and local law enforcement. Recognizing the critical role the public plays in stopping attacks before they happen, Dr. Rodriguez also increased the office’s engagement with the public—building and maintaining key relationships with faith-based communities.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where he became a senior analyst in its Counterterrorism Center. In this position, he monitored terrorist groups in the Middle East and South Asia, closely collaborating with U.S. Intelligence Community partners at the federal, state, and local levels to identify and counter persistent threats to the United States and its allies. During his time at the CIA, Dr. Rodriguez also oversaw an analytic unit that handled global economic and energy security, as well as related counterintelligence and cyber threats. From 2009-11, while deployed at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Dr. Rodriguez was a key U.S. interlocutor with the European Union during the height of the Euro crisis. He has been recognized by the CIA and Director of National Intelligence for his leadership and professional achievements.
Dr. Rodriguez received a BA from Williams College and an MA and PhD in political science from the University of Notre Dame.
Maurice Edington, Ph.D. is the 10th President of the University of the District of Columbia and is an accomplished scientist, educator, and university administrator. He began his tenure at UDC in August 2023.
Edington brings over 20 years of higher education leadership experience to the University. Dr. Edington most recently served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Florida A&M University (FAMU), where he guided strategy for vice presidents and other senior administrators to improve institutional outcomes on key performance indicators and sustain operational excellence. Direct reports included the provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for student affairs, vice president for research, vice president for strategic planning, director of communications and executive director of Title III programs.
Dr. Edington previously served as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (2018-2022). In that role, he was responsible for all matters pertaining to academic programs, activities and services in the 14 colleges/schools, including overseeing all institutional and specialized accreditation activities. He managed an annual operating budget of $99 million for 9,200 students and over 500 full-time faculty.
As Provost, Dr. Edington served as the university’s chief strategist and worked closely with FAMU’s President and BOT to establish and advance the university’s strategic priorities. Under his leadership, FAMU made tremendous strides in increasing student success outcomes, launched several new degree programs and experienced its highest performance (in 2021 and 2023) on Florida’s Performance-Based Funding Model. During Dr. Edington’s tenure as Provost, the university also climbed in the U.S. News & World Report rankings for national public universities from 123 to 103. FAMU has been the nation’s highest-ranked public HBCU for the past four years.
Dr. Edington established the Office of Undergraduate Research, the Office of Freshman Studies, and the Office of STEM Outreach to support his vision for increasing student success. He also previously served as the Chair of the State University System of Florida Council of Academic Vice Presidents, and he chaired the university’s Strategic Planning Committee that developed the recently approved 2022-2027 strategic plan.
Dr. Edington previously served as the Vice President for Strategic Planning, Analysis and Institutional Effectiveness at FAMU. In this role, he oversaw the university’s assessment, accreditation, academic program quality, institutional research, reporting and strategic planning functions. Several notable achievements marked his tenure in this role. These include leading the development and implementation of the university’s 2017-2022 strategic plan, coordinating the successful decennial accreditation review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), co-authoring the university’s annual Legislative Budget Requests and providing leadership on implementing strategies to improve the university’s outcomes on the Performance-based Funding Model.
Dr. Edington previously served as the founding Dean of the FAMU College of Science and Technology. Under his leadership, the college improved in several key areas, including increasing freshman retention rates, grant awards and graduate enrollment. He spearheaded the development of the college’s inaugural strategic plan, guided the revamping of the college’s tenure and promotion criteria and implemented several academic support initiatives that helped to increase student success rates in several science and mathematics gateway courses. In addition, Dr. Edington facilitated the college’s efforts in establishing strategic partnerships with several corporations and government agencies to garner support for the college’s strategic priorities.
Dr. Edington’s previous administrative experiences include serving as the Director of the FAMU Quality Enhancement Program (QEP), Chair of the FAMU Department of Chemistry and Director of the FAMU Office of Engineering and Science Support. Dr. Edington also has extensive experience with accreditation and strategic planning. Under his supervision as Dean, the FAMU computer science program completed a successful ABET accreditation review. Additionally, he has served as FAMU’s SACSCOC Accreditation Liaison since 2010.
Dr. Edington is a physical chemist by training with a research specialty in ultrafast laser spectroscopy. He also conducts research and provides training to faculty in the area of STEM education, with a focus on using active learning instructional strategies to enhance critical thinking skills.
Dr. Edington received his B.A. in chemistry from Fisk University, a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Vanderbilt University, and he completed postdoctoral studies at Duke University, where he was a National Institutes of Health, National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow.
Dr. Edington is married to Tonya Edington and is the father of Gabriella Edington, M.D.
| ROOM | 11:15-12:15 | 13:15-14:15 | 14:30-15:30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A200 | |||
| A202 | Radio Comms | Radio Comms | |
| A203 | Shelter | Shelter | |
| A206 | Inclusivity and Accessibility | Crowd | |
| A208 | Moulage | Moulage | Hemorrhage |
| A210 | MRC | VERT | AARP |
| A212 | |||
| A214 | CPR | Go Team | CPR |
| A216 | FEMA | Metro | |
| A218 | Stroke | Vol to Career | SALT |
| A220 | Insects | DAFN Pt. 1 | DAFN Pt. 2 |
| A221 | Hygiene | Duct Tape | Duct Tape |
| A222 | Killers | Lifelines | |
| A223 | UHA | UHA | UHA |
James Sobecke is a member of the Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). James joined CERT in 2008 and holds a host of leadership roles – Operations Division Lead, Lead Instructor, Traffic and Crowd Management Instructor, Community Volunteer Training Coordinator, and Radio Team Manager. Now retired from a military and government contractor career, James volunteers with CERT and several community organizations to keep active and give back to the community. For his years of leadership and dedication to a more resilient community, James was awarded the 2018 Fairfax County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Services Award for CERT Member.
As a longtime ham radio operator, Don was recently elected president of Alexandria Radio Club after previously serving as vice president. After becoming CERT trained in 2013 Don became an advocate of amateur radio licensing for CERT-trained personnel and will speak about amateur radio (ham radio) for CERT volunteers.
Sean P. Gallagher is a licensed Amateur (Ham) radio operator and Vice President of the Alexandria Radio Club. Sean completed CERT training in 2018 and has participated in many follow-on CERT-related training events and several CERT activations. As a liaison between the Alexandria CERT Communications Team and the Alexandria Radio Club, Sean developed and manages CERT Communications efforts for Alexandria CERT Team and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Sean also serves as a volunteer member of the Fairfax CERT Radio Team, helping to support radio capabilities development and functional integration with Alexandria City CERT capabilities.
Christine Faltz Grassman, Esq., has been blind since birth, a mother, wife, teacher, attorney, and conflict resolution specialist at the United States Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration. She serves as 3rd Deputy Coordinator for Arlington CERT, is a member of Arlington and Fairfax CERT, and is a certified instructor of CPR and First Aid affiliated with the American National Red Cross.
Outside of the emergency preparedness world, Christine is honored and privileged to be President of the Potomac Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia, Vice-President of the Out of Sight Dragons dragon boat team, Recording Secretary for the National Federation of the Blind of Virginia state affiliate Board and is a Center for Inquiry Secular celebrant.
David Steele is a FEMA instructor, Training Coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team, and a Moulage technician who has conducted CBRNE and other mass casualty training and evaluations overseas and throughout the United States. He helped design and conduct U.S. government and coalition military functional exercises, and multi-national full-scale mass casualty exercises. His Moulage training program for the U.S. Embassy was also used by the U.S. Ambassador's Tactical Response Teams. Mr. Steele has custom-created scene-specific Moulage appliances for military training, airport emergency plan exercises, county exercises, police department active shooter exercises, and fire department skills training.
Kristen Wear is a Moulage Technician and the Moulage Coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team and has received intensive training from professional makeup artists, mentors, and through independent study. In this role, Ms. Wear designs mass casualty field and tabletop exercise scenarios and has developed extensive victim lists for local Fire Rescue Service, CERT, and private companies. Ms. Wear developed a system for allowing victims to take an active role in choosing their level of involvement while enabling the team to maintain the scenario-driven injury "hit list" with pre-determined victim triage categories. In addition, she has provided realistic scene-specific Moulage services, controller/evaluator roles for numerous airport emergency plan drills, extensive military CBRNE exercises, and police department active shooter training.
Bridget is a retired aviation and rail transportation manager. MRC Volunteer since 2020.
Marco is a retired software executive in the life sciences industry. MRC volunteer since early 2020.
Nathan Bruinooge has volunteered with Alexandria MRC since March 2020, and also works as a COVID contract staff with the Alexandria Health Department. He has served as POD Manager for the vast majority of AHD's COVID vaccine PODs.
Greg St. James has been the Program Manager of the Montgomery County Maryland CERT Program since 2007. In 2010 and 2011 Greg led CERT Teams to Haiti to train and assist residents of Leogane near the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake. In 2011, Greg created and helped produce the first CERT CON event in Silver Spring Maryland. Under his leadership, Montgomery County CERT has created the innovative and award-winning Virtual Emergency Response Team (VERT), the unique family outreach program Storm Camp, and the active CERT Go Team.
Greg is also a co-founder of the NCR CERT Consortium and its President.
Greg is a Maryland EMT-B, CPR instructor, and CERT Trainer. He is a lifelong radio and television broadcaster and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife and fellow Michigan native Jennifer.
Jennifer St. James is a FEMA-trained CERT Basic and ASHI CPR instructor in Montgomery County Maryland. She has been a CERT volunteer for over 10 years, and serves as the HR coordinator and is part of the IT/Digital team, managing the website and social media platforms, as well as participating in area events with the Montgomery CERT Go Team.
Jennifer also works with Montgomery County Auxiliary Communications Service, (MCACS), and is a licensed ham radio operator. She has served on the MCACS board as their treasurer for the past 5 years.
Jennifer is originally from Michigan, and has lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland since 2011 with her husband Greg. She has an extensive IT and broadcasting background throughout her career in the radio industry as an announcer and broadcast/sound engineer, and many years of experience as an IT network and systems administrator. Jennifer currently works as a Sr. Project Manager contracted to the federal government, and has a Master's in IT Information Systems.
Betty Nen is an Emergency Management Specialist with FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division (ICPD) within the National Preparedness Directorate (NPD). She supports the Citizen Responder Portfolio, which includes CERT and You Are The Help Until Help Arrives (Until Help Arrives, or UHA).
Margaret Probst is a nationally registered paramedic, enjoying the privilege of responding to 911 emergencies for the people of Maryland and Virginia as she has done for more than 20 years. Margaret is also the Northern Virginia EMS Council's Stroke Smart Coordinator and data analyst, focused on expanding stroke education in the region and encouraging those experiencing the signs and symptoms of stroke to immediately call 911.
Stephen Panossian has been a 10-year volunteer of Montgomery County CERT in Maryland. Stephen is grateful for the chance to practice first aid skills with the team and contribute to MCCERT's VERT program as often as he can. Professionally, Stephen has held many jobs, most recently a mosquito controls professional contracting to the Maryland Department of Agriculture since 2013. Stephen also volunteers with the Audubon Naturalist Society where he helps monitor water quality in county streams. Last year he earned his MS degree in biotechnology from the University of Maryland Global Campus. When he is not working or volunteering, Stephen enjoys spending time with his family, surfing the Internet, and listening to eclectic music.
A year ago, researcher and writer Jonathan Hutson was living off-grid without running water in a refugee camp in eastern Sudan. He put his knowledge of emergency sanitation and hygiene to the test. And now he's ready to share with you: how to purify water, how to stay clean in a pandemic, and what to do with poo when the grid is down.
Sue MacLane is Arlington CERT's 1st Deputy, and Moulage Coordinator. She is an instructor for Until Help Arrives, CPR/First Aid, Disaster Psychology, and Psychological First Aid. She is a counselor/psychologist and professionally offers debriefings.
Paul Smith has been an active participant in the Arlington, Virginia CERT since 2016. He has been a trainer in Until Help Arrives and CERT Med Ops since 2018. He is currently serving as deputy director of the Arlington Until Help Arrives program.
Janine Wonnacott has been a member of Arlington CERT since 2019 and immediately got involved in Until Help Arrives. She has a MA in psychology, focused on combat psychology and the mental trauma of killing. She's also a K-12 reading and math tutor, focusing on reluctant readers and gifted kids with executive function difficulties (like ADHD). Her own ADHD has made her very skilled at connecting with her students and figuring out how they can succeed. She lives in Arlington with her husband, pre-teen son, and three cats.
Marco serves as a lifelong volunteer, learning, practicing, and sharing with the community how to be safe, ready and serve others. He has a positive effect on relationships in the community, and on the residents’ awareness of and involvement in the neighborhood. Marco is an instructor for the American Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services and Preparedness Programs; CERT Community Emergency Response Teams of Fairfax, Alexandria, and several CERTCON events; Medical Reserve Corps of Fairfax and Alexandria; Emergency Management Volunteer Corps, Fairfax; UHA You Are the Help Until Help Arrives; Bleeding Control; Hands Only Resuscitation; and others.
David Steele is a FEMA instructor, Training Coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team, and a Moulage technician who has conducted CBRNE and other mass casualty training and evaluations overseas and throughout the United States. He helped design and conduct U.S. government and coalition military functional exercises, and multi-national full-scale mass casualty exercises. His Moulage training program for the U.S. Embassy was also used by the U.S. Ambassador's Tactical Response Teams. Mr. Steele has custom-created scene-specific Moulage appliances for military training, airport emergency plan exercises, county exercises, police department active shooter exercises, and fire department skills training.
Kristen Wear is a Moulage Technician and the Moulage Coordinator for the Montgomery County (MD) Community Emergency Response Team and has received intensive training from professional makeup artists, mentors, and through independent study. In this role, Ms. Wear designs mass casualty field and tabletop exercise scenarios and has developed extensive victim lists for local Fire Rescue Service, CERT, and private companies. Ms. Wear developed a system for allowing victims to take an active role in choosing their level of involvement while enabling the team to maintain the scenario-driven injury "hit list" with pre-determined victim triage categories. In addition, she has provided realistic scene-specific Moulage services, and controller/evaluator roles for numerous airport emergency plan drills, extensive military CBRNE exercises, and police department active shooter training.
Steve Peterson is the Montgomery County CERT Virtual Emergency Response Team Lead. He has over 35 speaking engagements related to emerging technologies and disaster management, including presenting at several CERTCON events. Steve received his Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from the University of Maryland and received the Certified Emergency Manager (CEM®) designation from the International Association of Emergency Managers.
Katelyn C. Keegan is the Montgomery County CERT Virtual Emergency Response Team Deputy Lead since its inception in 2013. She previously presented at CERTCON 2021, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre's Virtual Workshop entitled "Social Media for Disaster Risk Management" in both 2021 and 2022, as well as the Government Computer News' Emergency Preparedness Workshop. Katelyn received her Master's in Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the University of Baltimore, School of Law in May of this year with her Juris Doctorate.
Thomas Espina is an ASHI/HSI certified instructor for CPR/AED and First-Aid. He joined MC-CERT in 2016 and continued to grow with the program and has recently been handed the role of Go Team Coordinator. Tom is also certified in Wilderness First Aid and has utilized his skills in the “real world”. During the day, he manages all mobile devices being used at the National Institutes of Health.
Alexander Falcone is the Senior Response and Recovery Coordination specialist with the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority, Office of Emergency Preparedness. He joins the authority after serving for the past six years as the Director of Emergency Management, Special Events, and City Security for the City of Coral Springs, Florida. As Director, he oversaw the Office of Emergency Management, directed the security strategies for city facilities, and developed safety operational plans for large-scale, city-run events. Amongst his greatest accomplishments, he successfully implemented the state’s first ALERT technology system, connecting area schools to the Real Time Crime Center and City’s Dispatch. This project was later featured in National media, and Coral Springs was ranked as one of Florida’s safest cities. . His experience includes multiple activations for various emergencies including Hurricanes Irma, Matthew, and Michael; Pulse Nightclub Shooting; Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting; and COVID-19. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Florida State University with a graduate certificate in Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
James currently is an Emergency Management Specialist for FEMA, a Past President of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of Clinton, MD, and is retired from the United States Army since 2003. During his service, he worked in communications, security, training, and administration; he has served as a security professional for ten years.
He received a BA in Emergency Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus in 2017. He has actively pursued FEMA Independent Study courses and many face-to-face classes in emergency management. He has achieved certificates in Professional Development Series, FEMA COOP Level I & II Professional Continuity Practitioner, the Homeland Security Exercise Evaluation Certificate, and several National Incident Management System certificates. He is also a FEMA-certified CERT train-the-trainer and CERT Program Manager. He is married and is the father of one daughter. James enjoys competitive sports, fitness, cycling, and family time.
Brindisi Chan is the co-leader for Greenbelt CERT in Maryland. She currently works at FEMA with social media analytics, misinformation and disinformation, but previously served time with the Maryland Emergency Response System and Prince George’s County Office of Homeland Security/Office of Emergency Management, where she coordinated the county’s CERT teams and CERTCON 2017. In addition to being an earthquake survivor, Brindisi has worked disaster response to numerous national and international incidents, including being a part of the various Virtual Operations Support Teams (VOST). She is also an inaugural member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate Emergency Management Think Tank.
Paul has been involved in healthcare for over 50 years; first as a first aid provider, EMT, Paramedic and as a Physician Assistant since 1979 working in Trauma and Critical Care. Paul now serves as the Emergency Manager for University of Maryland, Capital Region Health. He received his BS in Health Sciences with a major of Physician Assistant from the George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and has served as Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine for the past 15+ years. He has attended numerous training classes at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (AL), Energetic Material Testing Center (AZ), and other Homeland / FEMA classes. He holds certifications as a Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C), Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional (CHEP) and other healthcare emergency management credentials. He is an active member of Anne Arundel – Annapolis CERT where he serves as Treasurer and the Team Leader for the First Aid Support Team (FAST).
Kelly Boyd is an Access & Functional Needs Planner for the NJ Office of Emergency Management. Previously, she served as the AmeriCorps Program Officer for the New Jersey Commission on National & Community Service and as the Disaster & Disability Services Coordinator for the NJ Governor’s Office of Volunteerism. Ms. Boyd was also a disaster reservist for FEMA Region 2 and an Emergency Management Specialist at the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities.
Missy Tuttle has 30 years of leadership and business management experience. She teaches communities, corporations and individuals how to prepare for emergencies, whether large or small scale. Missy is certified by the Emergency Management Institute as a CERT Program Manager and is an adjunct Instructor with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. She is actively involved in numerous charities and community organizations, a member of The Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department as an EMT and a Search & Rescue Technician for Delmarva Search and Rescue. She currently serves on the board of the Fairfax County CERT Volunteer Association.
Anita Van der Merwe has a passion for emergency management. She combines business continuity management and planning, technology recovery planning and exercising, emergency response, and emergency preparedness in her overall skill set. She currently works as clinic operations manager to support COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and wellness services.
As a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) her background includes the planning and rehearsal of disaster recovery and business continuity strategies, plans, and capabilities for corporations in the financial and technology industries.
Anita also works In the capacity of Adjunct Instructor for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Training Division, as well as an EMS educator actively involved with Emergency Medical Technician and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training.
Anita maintains the Emergency Medical Technician certification and is an operational member of the Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company in Virginia.
Anita is certified by the Emergency Management Institute as well as Fairfax County Fire and Rescue as a CERT Instructor and served as the Training Officer for the Fairfax County CERT program.
Brett Wernick has been involved with Montgomery County CERT since 2018 and became a certified instructor and EMR in 2022. With over 10 years of corporate learning and development experience, she enjoys connecting with her students in CERT basic courses (often plying them with baked goods...her other passion). Brett works with the broader team on continuous improvement in the training methods employed to make CERT Basic more engaging and increase learning "stickiness" including games such as Jeopardy and Kahoot. She is currently the MC CERT registrar and a member of the training team.
Sue MacLane is Arlington CERT's 1st Deputy, and Moulage Coordinator. She is an instructor for Until Help Arrives, CPR/First Aid, Disaster Psychology, and Psychological First Aid. She is a counselor/psychologist and professionally offers debriefings.
Paul Smith has been an active participant in the Arlington, Virginia CERT since 2016. He has been a trainer in Until Help Arrives and CERT Med Ops since 2018. He is currently serving as deputy director of the Arlington Until Help Arrives program.
Janine Wonnacott has been a member of Arlington CERT since 2019 and immediately got involved in Until Help Arrives. She has a MA in psychology, focused on combat psychology and the mental trauma of killing. She's also a K-12 reading and math tutor, focusing on reluctant readers and gifted kids with executive function difficulties (like ADHD). Her own ADHD has made her very skilled at connecting with her students and figuring out how they can succeed. She lives in Arlington with her husband, pre-teen son, and three cats.
James Sobecke is a member of the Fairfax County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). James joined CERT in 2008 and holds a host of leadership roles – Operations Division Lead, Lead Instructor, Traffic and Crowd Management Instructor, Community Volunteer Training Coordinator, and Radio Team Manager. Now retired from a military and government contractor career, James volunteers with CERT and several community organizations to keep active and give back to the community. For his years of leadership and dedication to a more resilient community, James was awarded the 2018 Fairfax County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Services Award for CERT Member.
As a longtime ham radio operator, Don was recently elected president of Alexandria Radio Club after previously serving as vice president. After becoming CERT trained in 2013 Don became an advocate of amateur radio licensing for CERT-trained personnel and will speak about amateur radio (ham radio) for CERT volunteers.
Sean P. Gallagher is a licensed Amateur (Ham) radio operator and Vice President of the Alexandria Radio Club. Sean completed CERT training in 2018 and has participated in many follow-on CERT-related training events and several CERT activations. As a liaison between the Alexandria CERT Communications Team and the Alexandria Radio Club, Sean developed and manages CERT Communications efforts for Alexandria CERT Team and the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Sean also serves as a volunteer member of the Fairfax CERT Radio Team, helping to support radio capabilities development and functional integration with Alexandria City CERT capabilities.
Marco serves as a lifelong volunteer, learning, practicing, and sharing with the community how to be safe, ready, and serve others. He has a positive effect on relationships in the community, and the resident's awareness of and involvement in the neighborhood. Marco is an instructor for the American Red Cross Disaster Cycle Services and Preparedness Programs; CERT Community Emergency Response Teams of Fairfax, Alexandria, and several CERTCON events; Medical Reserve Corps of Fairfax and Alexandria; Emergency Management Volunteer Corps, Fairfax; UHA You Are the Help Until Help Arrives; Bleeding Control; Hands Only Resuscitation; and others.
Beth retired from the US Air Force Reserves in 2009 as a Colonel in the Nurse Corps, as well as continued to work for the federal government until she retired in March of 2021. Beth has experience in emergency responses to unknown substances in mail facilities, planning and evaluating active shooter drills, and training and drilling first responders to multiple scenarios. Beth also volunteers for the City of Alexandria CERT team and is an active member of her local Health Department Medical Reserve Corp. Beth has responded to the influx of evacuees from Afghanistan, working at the COVID-19 call center as well as in several vaccine clinics supervising the flow staff and administering Influenza, COVID and Monkeypox vaccines.
David Steele is a FEMA instructor, Training Coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team, and a Moulage technician who has conducted CBRNE and other mass casualty training and evaluations overseas and throughout the United States. He helped design and conduct U.S. government and coalition military functional exercises, and multi-national full-scale mass casualty exercises. His Moulage training program for the U.S. Embassy was also used by the U.S. Ambassador's Tactical Response Teams. Mr. Steele has custom-created scene-specific Moulage appliances for military training, airport emergency plan exercises, county exercises, police department active shooter exercises, and fire department skills training.
Kristen Wear is a Moulage Technician and the Moulage Coordinator for the Montgomery County (MD) Community Emergency Response Team and has received intensive training from professional makeup artists, mentors, and through independent study. In this role, Ms. Wear designs mass casualty field and tabletop exercise scenarios and has developed extensive victim lists for local Fire Rescue Service, CERT, and private companies. Ms. Wear developed a system for allowing victims to take an active role in choosing their level of involvement while enabling the team to maintain the scenario-driven injury "hit list" with pre-determined victim triage categories. In addition, she has provided realistic scene-specific Moulage services, and controller/evaluator roles for numerous airport emergency plan drills, extensive military CBRNE exercises, and police department active shooter training.
Anna considers herself a passionate community servant with the ability to motivate and inspire individuals to identify their potential to continue and share this passion for serving others. With this ongoing quest to give, she has been able to promote significant, positive change in communities and individuals through volunteering, empowered by compassion. Anna takes pride in engaging in a civically based approach to community building as she is committed to a life-long service based on personal and professional experiences. She also volunteers as an AARP speaker, who provides free presentations and talks throughout the different communities to discuss the many benefits of AARP.
Greg St. James has been the Program Manager of the Montgomery County Maryland CERT Program since 2007. In 2010 and 2011 Greg led CERT Teams to Haiti to train and assist residents of Leogane near the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake. In 2011, Greg created and helped produce the first CERT CON event in Silver Spring Maryland. Under his leadership, Montgomery County CERT has created the innovative and award-winning Virtual Emergency Response Team (VERT), the unique family outreach program Storm Camp, and the active CERT Go Team.
Greg is also a co-founder of the NCR CERT Consortium and its President.
Greg is a Maryland EMT-B, CPR instructor, and CERT Trainer. He is a lifelong radio and television broadcaster and lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with his wife and fellow Michigan native Jennifer.
Jennifer St. James is a FEMA-trained CERT Basic and ASHI CPR instructor in Montgomery County Maryland. She has been a CERT volunteer for over 10 years, and serves as the HR coordinator and is part of the IT/Digital team, managing the website and social media platforms, as well as participating in area events with the Montgomery CERT Go Team.
Jennifer also works with Montgomery County Auxiliary Communications Service, (MCACS), and is a licensed ham radio operator. She has served on the MCACS board as their treasurer for the past 5 years.
Jennifer is originally from Michigan, and has lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland since 2011 with her husband Greg. She has an extensive IT and broadcasting background throughout her career in the radio industry as an announcer and broadcast/sound engineer, and many years of experience as an IT network and systems administrator. Jennifer currently works as a Sr. Project Manager contracted to the federal government, and has a Master's in IT Information Systems.
Paul has been involved in healthcare for over 50 years; first as a first aid provider, EMT, Paramedic and as a Physician Assistant since 1979 working in Trauma and Critical Care. Paul now serves as the Emergency Manager for University of Maryland, Capital Region Health. He received his BS in Health Sciences with a major of Physician Assistant from the George Washington University, School of Medicine and Health Sciences and has served as Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine for the past 15+ years. He has attended numerous training classes at the Center for Domestic Preparedness (AL), Energetic Material Testing Center (AZ), and other Homeland / FEMA classes. He holds certifications as a Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C), Certified Healthcare Emergency Professional (CHEP) and other healthcare emergency management credentials. He is an active member of Anne Arundel – Annapolis CERT where he serves as Treasurer and the Team Leader for the First Aid Support Team (FAST).
Kelly Boyd is an Access & Functional Needs Planner for the NJ Office of Emergency Management. Previously, she served as the AmeriCorps Program Officer for the New Jersey Commission on National & Community Service and as the Disaster & Disability Services Coordinator for the NJ Governor’s Office of Volunteerism. Ms. Boyd was also a disaster reservist for FEMA Region 2 and an Emergency Management Specialist at the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities.
Missy Tuttle has 30 years of leadership and business management experience. She teaches communities, corporations and individuals how to prepare for emergencies, whether large or small scale. Missy is certified by the Emergency Management Institute as a CERT Program Manager and is an adjunct Instructor with Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. She is actively involved in numerous charities and community organizations, a member of The Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department as an EMT and a Search & Rescue Technician for Delmarva Search and Rescue. She currently serves on the board of the Fairfax County CERT Volunteer Association.
Anita Van der Merwe has a passion for emergency management. She combines business continuity management and planning, technology recovery planning and exercising, emergency response, and emergency preparedness in her overall skill set. She currently works as clinic operations manager to support COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and wellness services.
As a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) her background includes the planning and rehearsal of disaster recovery and business continuity strategies, plans, and capabilities for corporations in the financial and technology industries.
Anita also works In the capacity of Adjunct Instructor for the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Training Division, as well as an EMS educator actively involved with Emergency Medical Technician and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation training.
Anita maintains the Emergency Medical Technician certification and is an operational member of the Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company in Virginia.
Anita is certified by the Emergency Management Institute as well as Fairfax County Fire and Rescue as a CERT Instructor and served as the Training Officer for the Fairfax County CERT program.
Alonzo Joy is a certified emergency manager (CEM) through the International Association of Emergency Managers and the Maryland Emergency Management Association. He is also a member of the National Emergency Management Association. Mr. Joy has a range of experiences and progressive education in Emergency Management, Crisis Management, and Human Resource Development; coupled with over 30 years of professional law enforcement expertise. Among his various activities, he currently provides emergency management training to the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area in their campus public safety institute to recruit special police officers. He enjoys opportunities like this: where he and students can share information in a learning session and jointly gain new knowledge. Mr. Joy is a graduate of FEMA’s National Emergency Management Basic Academy and is trained as a FEMA Basic Academy instructor and ICS instructor.
Sue MacLane is Arlington CERT's 1st Deputy, and Moulage Coordinator. She is an instructor for Until Help Arrives, CPR/First Aid, Disaster Psychology, and Psychological First Aid. She is a counselor/psychologist and professionally offers debriefings.
Paul Smith has been an active participant in the Arlington, Virginia CERT since 2016. He has been a trainer in Until Help Arrives and CERT Med Ops since 2018. He is currently serving as deputy director of the Arlington Until Help Arrives program.
Janine Wonnacott has been a member of Arlington CERT since 2019 and immediately got involved in Until Help Arrives. She has a MA in psychology, focused on combat psychology and the mental trauma of killing. She's also a K-12 reading and math tutor, focusing on reluctant readers and gifted kids with executive function difficulties (like ADHD). Her own ADHD has made her very skilled at connecting with her students and figuring out how they can succeed. She lives in Arlington with her husband, pre-teen son, and three cats.
Kathy Awkard is a consultant/short-term contractor with an unusual constellation of skills ranging from project development and management to preparedness and response training and curriculum design, to community based and public health nursing, to legal research, writing and analysis, to name a few. Kathy holds an associate degree in Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in Communication & Philosophy, and a Juris Doctorate. She is a member of the Montgomery, DC and PG CERT teams.
Paula Hughes is the President of, South County CERT, Prince George’s County, MD; Program Manager, Community Emergency Response Team. Ms. Hughes is a FEMA-certified CERT Train the Trainer, providing training sessions to team members, in addition to members of the general public. Ms. Hughes also conducts the Are You Ready Symposiums and, in addition, hosts CERT Basic Training Classes throughout the year.
Paula is also a FEMA-certified instructor for the Department of Homeland Security Basic National Planner’s Course, which she uses as a platform to push the benefits of including voluntary organizations active in disasters on the expanded/collaborative planning teams as communities of interest to federal, state, local, and tribal exercise planners.
Ms. Hughes is a former Hazardous Materials Technician (ProBoard)/First Responder in the Operations Division for Sasol North America- Sasol is an international integrated energy and chemicals manufacturing company with employees in 37 countries.
Ms. Hughes holds a Bachelor of Arts from Morgan State University in Baltimore, majoring in Political Science, minoring in Environmental Engineering
Donna Reuss has been a volunteer and the Volunteer Reception Center Manager with Volunteer Alexandria’s emergency preparedness program for over 10 years. Ms. Reuss is a retired national security emergency planner. She worked in the Federal government at both the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Defense, and has experience in all aspects of emergency management policy, planning, operations, training, exercises, and program assessment.
David Steele is a FEMA instructor, Training Coordinator for the Montgomery County Community Emergency Response Team, and a Moulage technician who has conducted CBRNE and other mass casualty training and evaluations overseas and throughout the United States. He helped design and conduct U.S. government and coalition military functional exercises, and multi-national full-scale mass casualty exercises. His Moulage training program for the U.S. Embassy was also used by the U.S. Ambassador's Tactical Response Teams. Mr. Steele has custom-created scene-specific Moulage appliances for military training, airport emergency plan exercises, county exercises, police department active shooter exercises, and fire department skills training.
Friday, November 18, 2022
1730 – 2030
– CERTCON Meet and Greet
Saturday, November 19, 2022
All Day
– Silent Auction
– Assorted Vendors
0900 – 1000
– Registration
– Continental Breakfast & Coffee Service
1000 – 1030
– Opening Ceremony & Keynote Speakers
1030 – 1115
– NCR CERT Program Managers Plenary Session & Roundtable Discussion
1115 – 1215
Morning Breakout Sessions
– FEMA Region 3 Breakouts
– Inclusivity and Accessibility of Emergency Response Training
– Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps Demo
– Smart Stroke
– Hands-Only CPR
– Awareness of Biting Insects
– Emergency Hygiene & Sanitation
– Moulage Q&A
– Radio Communications Info Session
1215 – 1300
– Lunch
– Touch a Truck
– Exhibitors
1315 – 1415
Afternoon Breakout Session 1
– Virtual Emergency Response Team (VERT)
– Pets & Disasters
– Safely Handling Animals Under Stress
– From Community Lifelines
– Moulage for Mass Casualty Incident Exercises
– Radio Communications Info Session
– Duct Tape Triage
– Scene Safety and the Killers
– Emergency Chef
– Teen CERT and Partnering with a Local Fire Department
– Go Team Management
– Emergency Financial Aid
Classes
– Until Help Arrives
– Disability Access & Functional Needs
1430 – 1530
Afternoon Breakout Sessions 2
– AARP Benefits for Volunteers
– Basic Shelter Ops
– Hands-Only CPR
– SALT Triage
– Hemorrhage Control, Beyond the Basics
– ARES/RACES Info Session
– Duct Tape Triage
– Emergency Chef
– Crowd Management
1530 – 1600
– Flex Time/Networking
1600 – 1630
– Day 1 Closing Remarks/Silent Auction
Sunday, November 20, 2022
1100 – 1200
– Registration
– Continental Breakfast & Coffee Service
1200 – 1530
– CERT Rodeo
– Volunteer Reception Center TTX
1530 – 1600
– Closing Ceremony
Friday, November 18, 2022
1730 – 2030
– CERTCON Meet and Greet
Saturday, November 19, 2022
All Day
– Silent Auction
– Assorted Vendors
0900 – 1000
– Registration
– Continental Breakfast & Coffee Service
1000 – 1030
– Opening Ceremony & Keynote Speakers
1030 – 1115
– NCR CERT Program Managers Plenary Session & Roundtable Discussion
1115 – 1215
Morning Breakout Sessions
– FEMA Region 3 Breakouts
– Inclusivity and Accessibility of Emergency Response Training
– Alexandria Medical Reserve Corps Demo
– Smart Stroke
– Hands-Only CPR
– Awareness of Biting Insects
– Emergency Hygiene & Sanitation
– Moulage Q&A
– Radio Communications Info Session
1215 – 1300
– Lunch
– Touch a Truck
– Exhibitors
1315 – 1415
Afternoon Breakout Session 1
– Virtual Emergency Response Team (VERT)
– From Community Lifelines
– Moulage for Mass Casualty Incident Exercises
– Safely Handling Animals Under Stress
– ARES/RACES Info Session
– Duct Tape Triage
– Scene Safety and the Killers
– Emergency Chef
– Teen CERT and Partnering with a Local Fire Department
– Go Team Management
– Emergency Financial Aid
Classes
– Until Help Arrives
– Disability Access & Functional Needs
1430 – 1530
Afternoon Breakout Sessions 2
– AARP Benefits for Volunteers
– Basic Shelter Ops
– Hands-Only CPR
– SALT Triage
– Hemorrhage Control, Beyond the Basics
– Radio Communications Info Session
– Duct Tape Triage
– Emergency Chef
– Crowd Management
1530 – 1600
– Flex Time/Networking
1600 – 1630
– Day 1 Closing Remarks/Silent Auction
Sunday, November 20, 2022
1100 – 1200
– Registration
– Continental Breakfast & Coffee Service
1200 – 1530
– CERT Rodeo
– Volunteer Reception Center TTX
1530 – 1600
– Closing Ceremony
Friday, November 18, 2022
1730-2130: CERTCON 2022 Meet and Greet:
0900-1200 Registration
0900-1000 Breakfast, Vendors
1000-1005 Color Guard Flag Presentation
1005-1010 Greg St. James/Frances Whalen- Welcome Remarks/Intro Keynote Speakers
1010-1015 City of Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson
1015-1020 City of Alexandria Fire Chief Corey Smedley
1020-1030 FEMA Dir. of Individual and Community Preparedness Division: Aaron Levy
1030-1115 NCR CERT Consortium Intro/Plenary
1115-1215 Christine Grassman: Inclusivity and Accessibility of Emergency Response
1115-1215 Bridget Donohue, Marco Van Doeveren & Nathan Bruinooge: Alexandria MRC
1115-1215 Andrew Burrows, Betty Nen: FEMA Region 3 Updates (Two 30-Minute Sessions)
1115-1215 Margaret Probst: Smart Stroke: (Two 30-Minute Sessions)
1115-1215 Stephen Panossian: Awareness of Biting Insects: (Two 30-Minute Sessions)
1115-1215 Jonathan Hutson: Emergency Hygiene & Sanitation: (Two 30-Minute Sessions)
1115-1215 David Steele/Kristen Wear: Moulage Q & A- How to Moulage From Your Kit
1115-1215 James Sobecke, Don Lewis, Sean Gallagher: Radio Comms. Presentation
1115-1215 Sue MacLane, Paul Smith, Janine Wonnacott: Until Help Arrives Pt. 1 of 2
1115-1215 Greg St. James & Jennifer St. James: Hands-Only CPR
1215-1300 Lunch/Touch a Truck/Exhibitors
1315-1415 Steve Peterson & Katelyn Keegan: Virtual Emergency Response Team (VERT)
1315-1415 Alonzo Joy: Community Lifelines
1315-1415 James Morrow/Brindisi Chan: Safely Handling Animals Under Stress
1315-1415 Kelly Boyd: Disability Access & Functional Needs Pt. 1 of 2
1315-1415 Missy Tuttle/Anita Van der Merwe: Duct Tape Triage
1315-1415 Brett Wernick- Scene Safety and the Killers
1315-1415 Kathy Awkard/Paula Hughes: Emergency Chef
1315-1415 Tom Espina: Go-Team Management
1315-1415 Alexander Falcone: Metro CERT
1315-1530 Sue MacLane, Paul Smith, Janine Wonnacott: Until Help Arrives- Pt.2 of 2
1430-1530 Greg St. James & Jennifer St. James: Hands-Only CPR
1430-1530 Anna Reed: AARP Benefits for Volunteers
1430-1530 Joe Lenz: Basic Shelter Ops
1430-1530 Paul Bowling: SALT Triage
1430-1530 David Steele/Kristen Wear: Hemorrhage Control- Beyond the Basics
1430-1530 Missy Tuttle/Anita Van der Merwe: Duct Tape Triage
1430-1530 James Sobecke, Don Lewis, Sean Gallagher: Radio Comms. Presentation
1430-1530 Kelly Boyd: Disability Access & Functional Needs Pt. 2 of 2
1430-1530 Kathy Awkard/Paula Hughes: Emergency Chef
1430-1530 Beth Mahar: Crowd Management
1545-1600 Flex Time/Networking
1600-1630 NCR CERT Consortium: Day 1 Closing Remarks
Sunday, November 20, 2022
1100-1200
1200-1530
1530-1600
George Washington Middle School is located in the Del Ray section of Alexandria near the Braddock Road Metro station, not far from the center of Olde Towne.
From the South (I-495/I-95) From the North (Crystal City) From Interstate 270 From Interstate 395 / King Street From the MetroTHANK YOU to everyone who attended the 2022 CERTCON and thank you to all our wonderful sponsors.
A special thank you to everyone who helped plan the event and to those of you whom volunteered during the event.
We look forward to seeing you all again for CERTCON 2023!
