It’s probably not the kind of “certifiable” you may be thinking of. Last weekend I completed three weekend courses of training to become part of the Sequim Community Emergency Response Team, or “CERT.” This is a volunteer effort to prepare a corps of community responders to assist in basic search and rescue in the event of a widespread disaster as might occur with a major earthquake.
Our group of over 20 trainees first had two intensive classroom sessions on all aspects of disaster response from organization and documentation to communications and triage.
Last Saturday we spent part of the day with field work, hands on training in first aid assessment, patient carrying, search and rescue, fire suppression, cribbing (structuring lifting of heavy objects), and forced entry (for rescue purposes, of course).
We used the Fire Department’s Maintenance, Operations and Training Facility for our training exercises, a facility well designed for the purpose.
The course is thorough and comprehensive. Just enough to teach me how much more I need to know to be effective. It will be followed by monthly classes designed for more in depth knowledge and, of course, more time to absorb the two inch stack of coursework we all took home.
Last month DH and I attended a sobering meeting on what might be expected in the event of a major earthquake in our region. Training to assist the community in case of such a disaster kicks preparedness up a notch. If you’re a local and interested in the CERT program, take a look at the Fire Department’s CERT web page.
That is an interesting and positive way to prepare. We don’t get quakes here but bushfires are always a risk.
Good for you. I hope you never have to use your new knowledge though.
It’s good to be prepared and ready to assist in these kinds of situations. Well done, Kay!
It makes a lot of sense to me for you to do that.
Sequim CERT is a fantastic program.
Kay, thank you for helping to get the word out.
Good on you Kay, the more people prepared the better! I did an intensive first aid course a few years ago, sad to say I’ve forgotten most of it now, you’ve inspired me to do a refresher!