OUR COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: CERT

There are almost 60,000 residents in Lamorinda served by only seven fire engines and two ambulances, — this addes up to one first responder vehicle for each 4,000 residents. When a large scale disaster strikes, families could be left on their own for quite a while.

What is CERT?

The Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training course.  It is part of FEMA’s Citizen Corps  program.  CERT’s are established so that local communities can respond to disasters until professional responders arrive.  While many people will respond to others in need during a disaster, the CERT course is designed to help them do so safely and effectively.

Lamorinda CERT Training:

The Lamorinda CERT Training provides lecture and hands-on instruction including:

• Assessment of what  local risks are and what you need to do to prepare
• How to manage utilities, hazardous materials, and put out small fires
• How to use “START” triage and how to provide basic medical aid
• How to safely and effectively search for and rescue victims
• Disaster psychology, terrorism awareness, radio communications, pet preparedness

Five hundred Lamorinda residents, ages 18-80, have been trained to prepare before the disaster occurs and how to respond after it hits, but volunteers are still needed to cover our large area. CERT training is one night a week for six consecutive weeks, followed by a three hour drill. Three classes are held each year, one in each Lamorinda community.  The Orinda class this fall is already full, but a Lafayette class begins in January 2014. All classes are free. If you are interested in becoming a Lamorinda CERT volunteer, go to http://lamorindacert.org to register on line.