CERT Academy training to begin Sept. 2

Published 8:14 am Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Academy training will begin Saturday, Sept. 2 and run through Saturday, Sept. 27 at Suwannee County Emergency Management, Douglass Center Complex, 617 Ontario Avenue SW, Suite 200, Live Oak. Classes are free and open to the public. Times for all classes will be 1830 until 2130 hours (6:30 until 9:30 p.m.)

Anyone interested must sign up with Emergency Management by calling 386-364-3405 and speaking with Sharon or Kimberly. This will allow time to have plenty of supplies for those attending classes.

The classes are for those who are committed and willing to give back to their community. If you, your organization, friends, family, church group, Neighborhood Watch group, Civil Air Patrol, motorcycle group or business would like to attend, please call to sign up.

Tuesday, Sept. 2

Unit 1 Disaster Preparedness at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• Disasters and Disaster Workers: what defines a disaster, and who makes up the response workforce

• The Impact on the Infrastructure: the potential effect of extreme emergencies and disasters on transportation, electrical service, telephone communication, fuel, food, water, shelter and emergency services

• Structural and Nonstructural Hazards: potentially hazardous conditions in various types of structures and their content during a disaster

• Hazard Mitigation: what to do to reduce the risk of damage from hazards that threaten your area

• Home and Workplace Preparedness: how you can prepare in advance to reduce structural and nonstructural hazards and survive the initial period after a disaster

• Community Preparedness: how a community can prepare in advance to respond

• Protection for Disaster Workers: laws that protect disaster workers from liability

Thursday, Sept., 4

Unit 2 Fire Safety at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• Fire Chemistry: how fire occurs, classes of fire and choosing the correct means to extinguish each type of fire

• Fire Hazards: potential fire hazards in the home and workplace and fire prevention strategies

• Fire Safety: how to evaluate fires, assess firefighting resources and determine a course of action

• Portable Fire Extinguishers: types of portable fire extinguishers and how to operate them

• Fire Suppression Safety: how to decide if you should attempt to extinguish a fire, how to approach and extinguish a fire safely

• Teamwork: the importance of working with a buddy

Hazardous Materials: how to identify potentially dangerous materials in storage or in transit

Tuesday, Sept. 9

Unit 3 Disaster Medical Part 1 at Suwannee EOC: In this unit you will learn about:

• Life Threatening Conditions: how to recognize and treat an airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock

• Triage: principles of triage and how to conduct triage evaluations

Thursday Sept. 11

Unit 4 Disaster Medical Part 2 at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• Public Health Considerations: how to maintain hygiene and sanitation

• Functions of Disaster Medical Operations: how to conduct the four major sub functions of disaster medical operations

• Disaster Medical Treatment Areas: how to establish them and what their functions are:

• Patient Evaluation: how to perform a head to toe patient evaluation to identify and treat injuries

• Basic Treatment: how to treat burns, dress and bandage wounds, treat fractures, dislocations, sprains and strains, apply splints to hands, arms and legs, treat hypothermia, control nasal bleeding

Tuesday, Sept. 16

Unit 5 Light Search and Rescue at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• Search and Rescue Size up: how to size up the situation in which the search and rescue teams will operate

• Conducting Search Operations: how to search systematically for disaster victims

• Conducting Rescue Operations: safe techniques for lifting, leveraging, cribbing and victim removal

Thursday, Sept. 18

Unit 6 CERT Organization at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• CERT Organization: how to organize and deploy volunteer resources according to CERT organizational principles

• Rescuer Safety: how to protect your own safety and your buddy’s during search and rescue

• Documentation: strategies for documenting situation and resource status

• Team Organization: a tabletop exercise will give you the opportunity to apply your knowledge of team organization

Tuesday, Sept. 23

Unit 7 Disaster Psychology at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• Disaster Psychology: the psychological impact of a disaster on rescuers, and victims and how to provide “psychological first aid”

• Caring for Yourself, Your Buddy and Victims: steps one can take individually and as part of a CERT before, immediately following and after a disaster

Thursday, Sept. 25

Unit 8 Terrorism and CERT at Suwannee EOC – In this unit you will learn about:

• What is Terrorism: the definition of terrorism and terrorist goals

• Terrorist Weapons: the weapons that terrorist are known or are suspected to have and the risk posed by various terrorist weapons

• B-NICE Indicators: cues that help to identify when a terrorist attack has occurred or may be imminent

• CERT and Terrorist Incidents: CERT protocols for terrorist incidents and protective action following an event

Saturday, Sept. 27

Unit 9 Overview and Drill at Suwannee EOC (time to be announced) – In this unit you will learn about:

• A Review of Key Points form the Course

• A Final Exercise