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The Community
Emergency Response Team, or CERT, Program is designed to prepare you to
help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a
catastrophic disaster.
Following a major
disaster, first responders who provide fire and medical services will not
be able to meet the demand for these services. Number of victims,
communication failures, and road blockages will prevent people from
accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment’s notice
through the 911 system. People will have to depend on each other for help
in order to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs.
This training program provides for community
self-sufficiency through the development of multifunctional response teams
who will act as an adjunct to local emergency services during major
disasters. Through this unique program, people from community
organizations, business and industry, and city and county employee groups
will become members of CERT, or perform as individual leaders by directing
untrained volunteers during the initial phase of an emergency.
CERT is about readiness, people helping people,
rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number. CERT
is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations
where citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can make a
difference. Through training, citizens can manage utilities and put out
small fires; treat the three main killers of disaster victims by opening
airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock; provide basic
medical aid; search for and rescue victims safely; and organize themselves
and spontaneous volunteers to be effective.
CERT members receive 24 hours of initial training (one day a week for
eight weeks). Continuing education programs, consisting of quarterly
3-hour refresher drills and full-day annual refresher drills follow the
eight-week course.
Disaster preparedness and hazard mitigation can minimize the effects of a
disaster and facilitate recovery. The benefits of this program are
numerous and invaluable. It will increase our overall level of disaster
readiness, provide emergency skills that people will use in day-to-day
emergencies, enhance the bond between government and community, increase
community spirit, and improve the quality of life for the people of our
community.
You can
make a difference by using CERT training to save lives and protect
property.
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