�2025 GREAT COASTSIDE SHAKEOUT

AFTER ACTION REVIEW

CERT Neighborhood Leads

ARES, MRC, DART and all other Allied Agencies

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10/16/2025

COASTSIDE CERT THANKS YOU!

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2025

Great Coastside ShakeOut

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AGENDA

• Number of participants active in Exercise
• Lessons learned?
• What went super well?
• What would you do differently next year?
• What would you ask Coastside CERT to do differently with regard to organizing next year’s event?

DID WE ACHIEVE THE GOALS of the EXERCISE?

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• CEOC/Elsewhere: Triage incoming data, provide scenarios in response to traffic from neighborhoods and offer injects.

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• CERT Neighborhoods: Depending on Tier chosen, practice convening at a rally point and setting up a NCP at a minimum, up to filling positions, creating field teams, and assessing (or counting) homes and/or casualties in the neighborhood. 

LET’S HEAR FROM�THE INCIDENT COMMANDER and OTHER PARTICIPATING GROUPS/AGENCIES:

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DAVID COSGRAVE

HMB ARES

MRC

DART

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LESSONS LEARNED

• Forms!
• Damage Form is front and back
• No place for casualty notations (Need separate form or reworked form)
• Communications!
• Practice, practice, practice
• Net Control Protocols (not decision maker or re-assurer)
• Protocols for traffic, what should be called in, scribed
• Map for Walkie-Talkie Net Control.
• Communication loop for Field Teams
• Scribing is a herculean task. Slow down.
• Clarity of messaging

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NOTE: Helpful to do “table top” of comms and forms before the GCSO if possible, and highly recommend all of a neighborhood’s CERTs attending ACT: Radio Trainings at least once.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Quotes or statements from your teams/neighbors.

• “I think it served the purpose for which it was intended; giving our neighborhood responders, some experience and muscle memory for the future.”

• “Even though we were a small group, everyone felt that the exercise was well worth it and that we continued to learn a lot.”

• “Teams quickly resolved issues, demonstrating flexibility and good situational awareness”

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• “Great group discussion about the forms. Our neighborhood will be meeting in person early in 2026 to go over all forms used in a disaster, how to use the forms and give packets of forms to all active neighborhood CERTs to keep with their backpacks.”

LESSONS LEARNED:

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What went super well?

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• Some neighborhoods had an uptick in participation

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• Everyone was committed to doing a great job and open to whatever they were assigned to do.

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• First time with a fully staffed NCP

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• Field Teams had “cheat sheet” and were able to assess confidently, typically only calling in significant items.

LESSONS LEARNED:

What would you do differently next year?

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• Work harder to get more people involved ahead of time. More advertising in the neighborhood.

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• Food before as folks often leave right after exercise

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• More regular FRS nets and more practice with radio

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• Really take the time to make sure everyone is clear on the assignment expectations and have all of the equipment they need to complete their assignment.

LESSONS LEARNED:

What would you ask Coastside CERT to do differently with regard to organizing next year’s event?

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• Saturday vs. Sunday
• Improve or annotate forms
• Put more thought into making the triage/casualty collection more “live action”
• Continue having the webinar on a week night.
• The pre-meetings were helpful - could we do a brief “table-top” run-through of the event at one of them next year?

SUCCESS with our MEASURES OF SUCCESS

INCIDENT COMMAND & AGENCIES / CEOC

• Correct documentation is used.
• Needed agencies are present and participate (provide injects, react to priority requests, etc.).
• Communication from Neighborhood to IC / DOC all work and are of appropriate nature.
• Communication not for Fire Command were properly diverted.
• Injects are acknowledged and addressed -- if possible to do so -- by neighborhood or agency.

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FIRE COMMAND / DOC - Communication to/from CEOC works and is of appropriate nature.

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NEIGHBORHOODS

• Operations are calm and safe.
• Correct documentation is used.
• Communication to/from Neighborhood to IC are received and are of appropriate nature.
• Counts are relayed when requested and inject traffic is correct and messages are succinct.
• Injects are acknowledged and addressed -- if possible to do so -- by neighborhood forces.

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THANK YOU!!!

Coastside CERT thanks everyone for their participation in this year’s GCSO Exercise.

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Here’s to making next year even more impactful for our neighborhoods and our agencies!