CERT – Community Emergency Response Team

By now you’ve probably realized that one of my major areas of focus is hurricane preparation and response. This has been heightened by the fact that Florida has been hit by several major hurricanes, just in the past few years. With weather forecasters reporting that we seem to be experiencing a trend of active hurricane seasons, hurricane preparedness has become, more than ever, an integral part of our everyday lives. I want our residents to feel safe and much of that relies on proper preparedness and trained response. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, emergency responders on the state and federal levels stressed the need for local communities to become better prepared for major weather events. We can’t sit by and wait for the “cavalry” to ride in and help us; we have to be proactive and prepared - right here.

Residents, especially those who live in communities with high risk populations (frail elderly, medically needy and the disabled) can become a tremendous response resource in an emergency, by receiving training through the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. This course is sponsored by Palm Beach County, Palm Beach Community College and United Way. This program is designed to focus on hurricanes and other potential major emergencies common to Palm Beach County.

Palm Beach Community College, through the adult education program, coordinates and provides the training. Trained professionals from Palm Beach County including fire-fighters, EMTs, paramedics, law enforcement officers and Emergency Management Division personnel conduct class instruction. The CERT class meets for 3 hours twice per week for 4 weeks for a total of 24 hours of disaster management instruction. The course content includes disaster preparedness, fire suppression, medical operations, light search and rescue operations, psychology and team organization, and disaster simulation.

The United Way of Palm Beach County provides scholarship funds for the CERT program and Palm Beach County Emergency Management assists graduates with starting a CERT team in their own neighborhood. I will support county efforts to identify additional resources to help fund the program so that more residents can become trained.

I think this is an important resource for you to share with your homeowners association or neighborhood organization. If you are interested in further information about the program or would like to be considered for an available County CERT class, please call 712-6400 or contact me directly at 355-2202.

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