The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, made available by FEMA, teaches volunteers about disaster preparedness for hazards that may affect their community and provides disaster response skills during an intensive three-day class.
CERT Volunteers are key to the emergency response system in our community, when professional responders may be delayed in arriving to a scene during a natural or manmade hazard or disaster. Once professional responders arrive, CERT Volunteers continue to assist with support and tasks as needed.
CERT Volunteers are trained to work as a team to safely provide simple medical triage and basic first aid, fire extinguisher use, emergency communication, victim extraction, and how to prepare for the stress that responders may endure during and after a crisis.
Tammy Barker, Compliance Officer to TMWIHC, attended this training September 28-30, and stated that learning the team process to triage 20-30 victims in a short period of time was the most interesting part for her. The most empowering lesson came when the team works together cribbing a car, which allows the team to lift a vehicle that has pinned a victim and remove the victim safely.
For more information about this important community resource, go to https://www.ready.gov/community-emergency-response-team. There, you will learn more about training opportunities in your community, other ways to support the program, and tips on how to prepare your own home in the event of a disaster.