As natural disasters continue to increase in frequency and impact various regions of the United States, the United Steelworkers (USW) is intensifying its efforts to respond not only in the areas where its members work but also in the communities where they live.
To that end, 13 USW Specialized Emergency Response Trainers (SERTs) gathered at USW headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa., in November, for a five-day session aimed at broadening and deepening the knowledge they bring into the field. The SERTs underwent specialized training in various health and safety topics to enhance their ability to support distressed communities. While the SERTS are well-versed in emergency command center protocols, their unique training curriculum prioritizes disaster preparedness. Therefore, all of their enhancement training emphasizes effective team communication.
The week began with a series of group exercises aimed at improving problem solving at a group level. At first, some of these activities appeared to be mere games that would be easy to play. Quite the opposite! The stress came on almost instantly and would only increase until people realized the only way to accomplish their tasks was to come up with methods that involved absolutely everybody present. One exercised involved lowering a thin tube to the ground using only two fingers. The first few rounds met with immediate failure, some were even tempted to blame. But as USW members know, “blaming the worker” leads to nothing good. Finally, after about 15 minutes, the SERTS figured it out—together, coming up with structural changes to the problem at hand.
As the week progressed, other safety topics were introduced. One involved the complexities of fall protection equipment. Although the SERTs enjoyed some hardy laughs suiting up into wide variety of harnesses, they were well aware of the seriousness of the topic. And since some SERTs have more experience with particular hazards than others, training together in person—is a thing of beauty! Everybody felt grateful to be learning from others.
Another life-and-death matter the SERTs spent a whole morning on, was cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The training was conducted by Mark Mace (USW Local Union 10-14693), a specialist in CPR. Hours were spent pushing on life-like dummies and blowing air into stiff plastic lungs. Although people’s triceps were really feeling it at the end of the session, everyone left with a sense of confidence they can handle real life emergencies. All of the SERTs received a training certificate by the American Heart Association.
One of the most challenging topics addressed during the week was opioid education. Given the extent of the opioid epidemic sweeping the country, virtually nobody present had been left untouched by it. Health specialists from Unity Recovery presented the SERTs with the most current information regarding opioid usage. Everything from the pharmacological chemistry of opioids to trends in social usage were covered. As with all health hazards facing USW members, a root cause approach was emphasized. And given that the SERTs hail from all regions of the country, it was remarkable to learn how similar the problem was in all communities. Note: no part of the training touched on drug policies regarding USW work sites and membership. The training focused on the community dimensions of the problem.
Another highlight during the week was when the SERTs were tasked with building scaffold models—while remaining silent. The purpose of the exercise was to challenge the SERTs to look closely at each other, maximizing communication using body language. Given that many disasters are extremely chaotic situations where people’s audio attention are often distracted, a combination of body and verbal languages is often necessary to transmit vital instructions. The SERTs formed into teams in order to compete as to who could construct the most in the shortest time. Also, since the SERTs are also OSHA authorized trainers, they had a chance to refresh their knowledge of scaffolding regulations and building procedures.
All in all, the Pittsburgh SERTs week-long meeting was a great success, substantially amplifying the SERTs’ arsenal of disaster preparedness training techniques. The new lessons will be directly applied to the SERTs’ June 2025 field training visit to flood affected areas in North Carolina and Tennessee (USW District 9). Keep an eye out for the SERTs coming to your district!