Story & photos by Edward Duboowitz
Through the El Paso City-County Office of Emergency Management, in conjunction with FEMA, citizens can participate in the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training and certification at no charge. The classes, which are typically held at the Fire Academy at Ascarate Park, are twenty hours of both instruction and hands on training. They cover disaster preparedness, basic firefighting, basic first aid, light search and rescue, triage, team organization, and end in an extremely realistic simulation where everything learned is put to use. Students are usually from all walks of life and everybody has a place in CERT, regardless of age, physical ability, gender, race, religion, or anything else. Participants leave the class with a new found sense of pride in themselves, leadership skills they didn’t think they had, and the ability to help others.
CERT, since 1993, has promoted the idea of “Doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people.” All fifty states now have CERT programs, and each team is structured to be as unique as the area they are in. The premise behind this program is quite simple. In the event of a disaster, either natural or manmade, local resources (i.e. police, fire, ambulance, and hospitals) are stretched thin and need help. Citizens can do their part to help others in such events and can help save lives and property. CERT members, after graduating, are able to be called upon for such emergencies, and are trained to respond safely, effectively and responsibly to further assist first responders. There are over half a million CERT volunteers throughout the country covering nearly 3,000 local programs.
For more information, or to register, visit: elpasoready.org and select the CERT tab.
