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COMMUNITY
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT)
SCHEDULED
CERT CLASSES:
There are
no scheduled classses at this time. Please check here for
future class dates or call Island County DEM at 679-7370.
FOLLOW-ON
CERT TEAM TRAINING
What
is CERT and Why is there a need?
Each year a number of communities
fall victim to some disaster. This may be an earthquake,
tornado, storm, flood or "man made" disaster. The damage caused
by natural disasters such as these, effect all elements of society
and government.
Catastrophic events:
• Severely restrict
and overwhelm emergency response resources, communications, transportation
and utilities.
• Leave many
individuals and neighborhoods cut off from outside support.
When we hear about this or see it on the news, it always seems
to be happening to someone else but.WHAT IF THIS HAPPENED
TO YOU?
Community
Emergency Response
Teams (CERT)
are trained to help communities mitigate disasters during the
first 72 hours following a disaster when damaged roads, disrupted
communications, high call volume, etc., may restrict access by
professional emergency response teams. The purpose of CERT training
is to provide citizens with the basic skills that they will need
to handle virtually all of their own needs and then to respond
to their community needs in the aftermath of a disaster.
What
Does the Course Involve?
The course consists
of 8 units and a review. Classes are taught by trained emergency
personnel. The format may very from one or more classes a week
to three 8 hour days. Scheduling is up to the instructor and the
class. The course agenda is generally as follows:
Unit
1 DISASTER PREPAREDNESS
Personal Preparedness,
disaster and hazard identification in local area, and the role
of CERT in disaster response.
Unit
2 FIRE SAFETY & SUPPRESSION
Identifying and reducing
potential fire hazards, and basic fire suppression strategy.
Unit
3 DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS - PART ONE Treatment
strategies for life threatening conditions and principles of triage.
Unit
4 DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS - PART TWO
Head to toe assessments,
treatments for head wounds, fractures, sprains, burns and other
injuries.
Unit
5 LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE
Search and rescue priorities
and resources, techniques for size up and search, lifting, cribbing
and removing victims, safety.
Unit
6 CERT ORGANIZATION
The post disaster emotional
environment, the Incident Command System, CERT strategies, tactics,
and documentation.
Unit
7 DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY
Team
well-being and disaster stress. Working with survivors'
trauma.
Unit
8 TERRORISM AND CERT
What
is terrorism? What are the targets? The B-NICE indicators. CERT
and terrorism incidents.
Unit
9 Course REVIEW AND DISASTER SIMULATION
The
objectives of the Course
Upon completion of this
course, the participants will be able to:
• Describe the
hazards that are most likely to affect their homes and community.
• Describe the
function of CERT and their role in immediate response.
• Prepare themselves
for a disaster.
• Identify and
reduce potential fire hazards in their home or workplace.
• While working
as a team, apply basic fire suppression strategies, resources,
and safety measures.
• Apply techniques
for opening airways, controlling bleeding and treating for shock.
• Conduct triage
under simulated disaster conditions.
• Perform head
to toe assessments.
• Select and
set up a treatment area.
• Employ basic
treatments for various wounds, and apply splints to suspected
fractures and sprains.
• Identify planning
and size up requirements for potential search and rescue situations.
• Describe the
most common techniques for searching a structure.
• While working
as a team, use safe techniques victim extrications.
• Describe ways
to protect rescuers during search and rescue.
The target audience for
this course is private citizens, businesses, and schools who desire
to prepare for and respond to a disaster.
The
CERT course is free. Training materials
are provided or students may bring their own equipment.
CERT students will also be asked to register as Washington State
emergency workers.
Also available is a CERT independent
study course at the link:IS-317
that will take you through the course material. Further
CERT material is also available at the following link: CITIZEN
CORPS-CERT.
Questions
about CERT? Call DEM
at (360) 679-7370 or e-mail: dem@co.island.wa.us
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