COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM 

TRAINING

The Stanwood-Camano Fire Department will offer a Community Emergency Response Team, “ CERT “ class at the Vista-Madrona Fire Station, 273 NW Camano Drive, Camano Island on the following days and hours: 

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      13 Oct     6-9 PM,

      15 Oct     8 AM-5 PM,

      20 Oct     6-9 PM,

      22 Oct     8 AM-5 PM. 

Attendance at all four sessions is required to complete the training.  The 20 hours of instruction and practical exercise cover nine modules of self-help and emergency preparedness training.  The goal is to train CERT members who will be able to help themselves and their neighbors during local emergencies.  If you want to preview the CERT training, please go to the CERT web page at: www.citizencorps.gov/cert/IS317/.

Sign-up for the CERT class at the Stanwood-Camano Fire Department Admin Office located at 811 N Sunrise Blvd, Camano Island.  The Admin Office hours are from 8AM to 5 PM.  Questions?  E-mail Mike Simmons at:  msimmons@camanofire.com or call 360-387-1512. 

Already CERT trained but it has been a while?  We would love to you attend the sessions and refresh your skills.  Contact Mike Simmons.

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.  Workin​g 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