CERT finished!

As I posted earlier, Yea! I finally was able to take CERT classes. Well now I think I’ll share my thoughts about the class and let you know what CERT is.

CERT stands for community emergency response team. And what you do there is learn how and what to do in case of an emergency in your neighborhood.

You learn very basic first aid, fire suppression, and light search and rescue. I had fun meeting new people and relearning and learning new procedures. I learned where my weaknesses were and what myy strengths are.

Some of the things you can do as a trained CERT person can help when you have a crisis in your community. I know of many examples that can help you think about where you can help.

When Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped many of the people searching the mountain side were trained in search and rescue.

In July 2009, there was a landslide in Logan, Utah. Cert personnel helped with the emergency.

Here in my own community, my first winter living here we had an ice storm that knocked out power to most people for a week. Some people lived in their offices and we had one household come to our house to take showers and eat. My house had power and I had plenty of heat because I had a wood burning stove. My house was taken care of because of my family’s preparation. This made it possible for my husband to keep his radio station on the air. And so that the people of this community could find out what was going on and where to go if they needed shelter. At this time in 2007 we didn’t have the CERT program here.

For this community, we have CERT available on campus. Check your local fire department or community government offices for a location near you. Or you can search for one close to you at:

http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/searchCert.do?submitByZip