For 10 weeks, local citizens have been attending Community Emergency Response Team (CERT ) training. (L-R) Kay Sivets, Tyler Howell, Kay Costello, Instructor BJ Kohlstedt. (L-R, back) Instructor Jim Wiinanen, Jerry Sivets. (Not pictured Judie Johnson).
Four participants in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program completed the final exam, evaluation and exercise scenario March 4, 2010.
Over the last 10 weeks Kay and Jerry Sivets, Tyler Howell and Kay Costello attended evening sessions covering disaster preparedness for the home and family, fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, CERT organization, disaster psychology and terrorism related disasters. Sheriff Mark Falk handed out completion certificates and thanked the participants for taking the time for this emergency preparedness training.
Instructors for the CERT course included Jim Wiinanen, Cook County Emergency Management Coordinator; Judie Johnson, Grand Marais volunteer; and BJ Kohlstedt, Lake County Emergency Management Coordinator. Additional assistance was provided by Grand Marais Volunteer Fire Department and a Citizen Corps grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
In the mid-1980s, the Los Angeles Fire Department recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster. The LAFD decided that some basic training in disaster survival and rescue skills would improve the ability of citizens to survive until responders or other assistance could arrive. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 confirmed the need for training civilians to meet immediate post-disaster needs. In 1994 CERT training materials were expanded to make them applicable to all hazards.
In 2003, President Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country. The Citizen Corps program was created to spearhead this effort to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds. CERT was selected as one of the primary programs offered to the American public to meet this challenge.
If available, emergency services personnel are the best trained and equipped to handle emergencies. However, following a catastrophic disaster, citizens are often on their own for a period of time because of the size of the area affected, lost communications and impassable roads. CERT training is designed to prepare the individual, his or her family and neighbors in the event of a disaster. Individual preparedness, planning, survival skills and mutual aid within neighborhoods and worksites during the early stages of a disaster are essential measures in coping with the aftermath of the disaster.
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