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Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
Local governments prepare for everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation.
CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to:
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manage utilities and put out small fires,
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treat the three medical killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock,
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provide basic medical aid,
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search for and rescue victims safely,
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organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective,
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And collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.
WHY DO THE CERT TRAINING?
Well, it's like paying for car insurance. You might never need either; you'd hope not to. But if the occasion arises, having the CERT training, just like having car insurance, means you're as ready as you can be to help yourself, your family and your neighborhood.
HOW DO I JOIN?
CERT members receive about 21 hours of initial training. The course is followed by final exercise where you apply the skills learned from the CERT Basic course.
CERT is provided free of charge within the county of Stafford to anyone 18 or over.
Classes are taught in the evenings at the Public Safety Center and Training & Logistics Center near the County Courthouse when enough interested participants have registered.
We encourage classes to be taught for your neighborhood, business or community group. We need a minimum of 20 people to be registered for a class to be scheduled. To register your interest in a class please fill out the following form:
CERT Fall 2011 Course Schedule - Deadline to Sign-Up is Sept. 12, 2011
Stafford County CERT Registration of Interest
Prior to taking the CERT Basic course, you must have completed the FEMA IS 100, 200, and 700 online courses. To access these courses please visit:
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