What Is CERT?

When disaster strikes, the better side of human nature takes hold with many people. Too many people have been injured and even lost their lives trying to help themselves, their family, or their neighbors.

The Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) concept came about to help these good people to meet this need to respond in a safe manner.

Students are taught how to effectively meet these needs safely and receive the confidence to act, when the time comes.

Fire Safety: Fires are always a danger to everyone. Students are taught how to determine if a fire is small enough to handle quickly with typical fire extinguishers commonly available. If the fire is too large, we are taught when to walk away and leave it to the professionals.

Disaster Medical: First aid, as taught in the C.E.R.T. program is approached from the standpoint of helping the most amount of people in the shortest amount of time. We call this “Disaster Medical” We teach those procedures to quickly identify the medical needs and then provide the first aid needed until first responders can arrive. Procedures taught allow us to evaluate and provide triage to most patients within on minute. We are taught how and when to utilize the victim, or other nearby victims to help each other. This allows us to go on to other victims that likely will need our help.

Light Search & Rescue: C.E.R.T. training teaches how “size up” a building or the environment to determine what can be done safely, and then procedures are learned which enables us to enter safely a light to moderately damaged building to search for victims. Techniques are taught to enable efficient searches. At times, victims may be penned under heavy materials. We teach how to safely extricate these victims.

CERT Organization: While the skills learned are invaluable to assist us with helping our family, and ourselves we are also taught how to interface with others in a team environment, if we should find ourselves in that circumstance. Documentation and procedures are taught so that team activities may be accomplished orderly and efficiently.

Disaster Psychology: Things witnesses during disasters can have far reaching effects on rescuers as well as victims. We are taught regarding many of these factors and how to recognize these effects with others.

Terrorism: Unfortunately, we now live in a world where terrorism is all too common. C.E.R.T. trained people are taught to recognize certain types of events as being possibly “terrorist related”. We are taught how to protect ourselves in these very special circumstances.