Is your Neighborhood Prepared?

If a disaster strikes in your neighborhood do you have a plan? If you want to make sure that you and your neighbors are ready for whatever disaster that strikes, you should look into getting CERT Certified. CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team and it’s set up to help educate people in disaster preparedness. In short, it gives you the basic training and education needed to make you a valuable resource should disaster strike where you live.  This is training that’s not only ideal to learn for your neighborhood but also your work place.  I’m sure you’d agree with me that it probably makes good sense to get CERT Certified, but you’re probably wondering, “How long does it take to get CERT Certified and where?”

The CERT training for community groups is completed in a total of 7 classes that generally run 1 class a week for 2 1/2 hour session. The training consists of the following sessions:

This session will addresses the hazards that could make your community vulnerable. They will also inform how to take action before, during and after the disaster strikes. As the session progresses, the instructor begins to expanded the response role for civilians and how they should consider themselves disaster workers. It is common to help your family members and neighbors, but with this training it can help you operate in a safe and appropriate manner.  With the CERT title they will also go over the organization and will inform you of the laws that govern in that specific jurisdiction.
  • Session 2, DISASTER FIRE SUPPRESSION: 
With this session they will cover such things as fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards, and fire suppression strategies. They will also provide you wiith  a key lesson on how to safely use a fire extinguisher, sizing up the situation, controlling utilities, and extinguishing a small fire. Also know even if it is a small fire it is best to contact your local fire department to make sure that the fire will not come back to life.
  • Session 3, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS PART I:
This session will help train you in diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock by using simple rapid treatment & triage techniques.
  • Session 4, DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS, PART II:
Part 2 will covers evaluating injured patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a safe & sanitary medical treatment area, performing basic first aid if needed.
  • Session 5, LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS:
Participants of this less will learn about search and rescue planning. How to properly size-up the emergency with simple search & rescue techniques and most important, rescuer safety.
  • Session 6, DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY AND TEAM ORGANIZATION:
With a disaster you never know how someone will handle the situation. This class will covers signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and worker. They will also addresses CERT organization and management principles and the need for documentation when dealing with this situation.
  • Session 7, COURSE REVIEW AND DISASTER SIMULATION:

This final lesson will have you the participant review their answers from a take home examination. You will practice the skills that you have learned during the previous six sessions in disaster activity.

By the time you’ve completed the 7 sessions, you’ll have slowly built a disaster response kit of items that you will be extremely valuable during a disaster. At the end of your training you’ll receive recognition for completing the training, and depending on your community, at the end of your class, you’ll be issued a CERT ID Card, a Vest, and a CERT Helmet.  To check these out do an image search for CERT on your preferred search engine.

Getting registered is easy, to find CERT classes being offered near you, check with your local City Management or click here to view the CERT State Directory.

Take the extra step and get registered for CERT training today. Talk with your friends, family, or your local church and get a group together that can take the class together.  Doing the training in a group creates safety in numbers.  When a disaster hits be a part of the solution, get the knowledge and expertise that you’ll need to see you, your family, neighbors and community safely through the storm.

Continue reading » · Written on: 05-19-10 · 1 Comment »

One Response to “Is your Neighborhood Prepared?”

  1. Marissa wrote:

    I like what you say at the end of this article. This is a great course to take, especially if you also pass along the information to your kids. It’s important for the whole community to be aware of danger and emergencies, but it’s even better when your whole family is on the same page!

     May 20th, 2010 at 8:23 am

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