A course designed to help local residents prepare for all types of emergency events occurring in their homes, offices and community.
The course covers basic “how to” skills to manage disaster situations:
how to put out small fires
how to administer basic first aide
how to search for/rescue victims in the office
how to coordinate volunteers
how to gather details to assist first responder efforts
how to cope
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept was developed and implemented by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department in 1985. They recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster. Accordingly, the Los Angeles Fire Department 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 training program that the Los Angeles Fire Department initiated proved to be so beneficial that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) felt that the concept and the program should be made available to communities nationwide. In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute in cooperation with the Los Angeles Fire Department expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards.
Uinta County Emergency Management with the support of Uinta County Public Health and local volunteers is striving to bring the CERT program to the citizens in the Uinta County area. The aim is to strengthen our communities through education, training, and volunteer services to make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.
A majority of the instructors and members of the Uinta County Community Emergency Response Teams are volunteers. Any member of the community is invited to become part of the team regardless of sex, race, religion, physical condition, or economic status. Every citizen can benefit from disaster preparedness training. Being prepared for disasters begins with individuals. Empowering families and citizens to help themselves and their neighbors during an emergency makes a community resilient and strong. The CERT course is available to Middle and High Schools in Evanston, as well as to local businesses. For those parties interested please contact Josh Rasnake at 307-783-0327. All training and materials are free.