Newark CERT Volunteer 'Walks with Purpose'

A high school diagnostic test showed law enforcement might be a good career choice for Michael Berke. But Berke, the son of an army colonel, chose a different path—engineering.

Once he was working full-time as an engineer, Berke joined his firm's emergency response team. That fanned his interest in helping others during unusual situations.

The next logical step was to get more training. Berke joined (CERT) and graduated from its six-class course. 

When his two children enrolled at , Berke decided to join the school's safety committee and eventually became its chairperson. He reevaluated the school’s safety procedures and brought skills he learned from Newark CERT—even painting kids with red make-up to mimic blood and other injuries. The exercise helps prepare teachers and parents for the look of devastation before an emergency happens, Berke explained. 

By this point, Berke wanted to train as an emergency medical technician too, but his engineering career didn't leave much time. Eventually  he found night classes and went through EMT training.

And he's been able to put that training to use. Berke recalled a time when he saved a woman who fainted in the parking lot of the Santa Clara Swim Center. He was walking toward the pool when he heard calls for help. The woman had fallen backward and hit her head. Berke retrieved an oxygen kit and an automated external defibrillator, a device that monitors a heart’s rhythm, from his vehicle.

Berke said the adrenaline rush of saving another person’s life was difficult to overcome. He wanted to mark his supply bag with a patch for every person he helped or apply a sticker for every baby he would help deliver. 

But with the help of friends, these thoughts changed.

“Instead of keeping score, do the very best you can on every patient,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges is you need to teach yourself drills and exercises to stay calm and clear-headed.

“You need to get to a place where you can stay calm and deal with things in a methodical way, he added. " You never run to help people. You walk with purpose.”

Born in Pasadena, Berke saw a lot of the world before arriving in Newark. He and his sister spent some of their youth in Calistoga, where he enjoyed hiking, hunting, dirt biking and camping.

But because his father was in the military, the family moved often. 

“We were stationed overseas; we moved everywhere," Berke said. "With that kind of background, you are always prepared. You understand chain of command.”