My wife and I have just begun our CERT course (Community Emergency Response Training). We have only done 2 (of the 8) sessions and I can already recommend this to you. This FEMA sponsered training is available in many communities in the US.<br><br>The training is basic, and many things will probably be old hat to Forum members, but I have already found 2 significant advantages to the training.<br><br>1. My wife is [color:red]INTERESTED</font color=red> in the training and the need to prepare basic supplies (72 hr kit), figure out where gas, electrical, water shut-offs are located and how and when to use them etc. This is the first time all my blabbing about buying stuff, packing stuff, making lists of emergency numbers, participating in HAM radio emergency nets etc has finally started to make sense. This is a HUGE advantage.<br><br>2. Getting to know the local firefighters and community members and forming CERT teams with assigned responsibilites will be great. The training is general in many aspects but "localized" by the instructors. This basic knowledge coupled with local conditions that may contribute to disasters is very valuable. Also FORUM member contributions to the group training will make it even better.<br><br>I encourage you to check out this training in your area <br> CERT Training by State

I think the idea of the CERTs is a great one, in fact on my last trip to Ecuador I made the a complete copy of the training material FEMA had published in Spanish and gave it to the fire department in Tosagua, with whom I have been working with for several years. I look forward to seeing how they were able to utilize the material. Do you or any one else know if their local Fire/Rescue departments have actually utilized any of the CERT’s? I have checked the course locations in Maryland and do not see one listed for our area. As one of the individuals responsible in our area for responding to disasters/incidents, I would like to know how to integrate the CERT’s into our overall sphere of operations. I would suspect that unless there is working relationship with county/state rescue teams prior to an incident, that members of CERT’s would not be allowed near an incident, for both legal and logistical reasons. Any information on how the CERT’s have already been utilized and the successes/failures would be appreciated. Pete

CERT is new to my community (we are class #3). My CERT coordinator is currently working with the Fire Department and the graduates to form localized teams. So far, we do not have plans in place to active or coordinate the CERTs with emergency services. This is all for use to work on in the near future.<br><br>According to my instructors CERTs have been being trained in California for about 10 years and they believe have been called for service.<br><br>CERT training emphasis is on small teams joining together in a disaster and doing what they can prior to the arrival of, or in the absence of, emergency services. This is completely dependent on having enough trained CERTs in your neighborhood or work site to become valuable with no direct supervision or "call-out".<br><br>My guess is that once "real" emergency workers arrive the CERT role would change to minor support or even "thanks, now go away".....but the whole point to CERT training is to have the basic ability to assist yourself and family first, to respond outside of your home or worksite, do no additional harm, and assist when you CANNOT expect the trained professional emergency workers to arrive.<br><br>Do the greatest good, for the greatest number, in the shortest time.<br><br>I also would be interested to learn what role any CERTs have played in their communities.

Does anyone know of a CERT Program in Central Va.?

My above link no longer works.

Here is the link to CERT by State

Here is the link to VA only

Virginia seems a tad thin. Contact your local fire department and ask about either CERT training or other public training events. Our local fire dept offers several first aid, CPR courses in addition to CERT.

Randy, Nothing is "old hat" in this endeavor. Everytime I think I can start a fire at will Mother Nature dumps 65 lbs of comet ice on my sqaw fire <img src="images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> The mark of a good instructor is the student(s) who return to share new knowledge discovered on the foundation we provide <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I checked in to CERT training in my area about a year or so ago. Local Public Safety was cautious about answering questions.

I got the impression that they did not have the resources to teach the classes but would if we had an organization that would/could bring out a classroom full of people to all the training.

There are several CERT teams that have web pages. There are some in Salt Lake City I believe. They have a stash of equipment in a portable container. In theory the container would be taken to the scene and the CERT team would respond and assist at things like MCI (mass causualty incidents) airplane wrecks, building collapse, sport arena collapse, etc.

From what I can tell, you will need someone to drive the program. A true believer to get the team organized, encourage people to attend the training, and then keep interest up my scheduleing refresher training and drills. It seems you would also need to have some sort of awareness program to encourage new membership as well as teach Public Safety how and when to use the CERT teams.

My investigation seemd to point to differening levels of response for CERT teams. In some places like California, it was expected to be a neighborhood response to get things moving after an earthquake since Public Safety would be overwhelmed. In others it seemed like kind of a "B team" public safety that would be called into fill the ranks of responders during large events. I think the first idea of having everyone in your neigborhood aware and personally prepared with some basic skills to help others it the most likely.

Public Safety, both volunteer and paid, train and re-train to keep skills sharp and build trust with each other so they feel comforatable truely risking their own lives to help the public. They deal with the public on a regular basis and see the public during times of chaos and panic and generally do not hold much respect for the "Public At Large" to be self sufficent. CERT teams would be different in that they would have had some training and in theory would be responding by choice.

If a neighborhood CERT team, I see where it would make sense for everyone on the team to make half dozen or so 4x4 cribbing, keep a daypack with medical supplies, gloves, basic hand tools, etc. Maybe even buying in bulk to reduce the cost.

The hardest part I see is keeping interest amoungst the team members. They train and feel special about being part of something. No event happens for years and they begin to forget their training or feel unwanted/needed. I think a scout troop, church, or similar civic organization would make a good choice because they are already meeting and will get new members to keep the interest alive.