The West County region of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) put 29 area members of the community through its basic disaster preparedness course, in early October. The 20-hour FEMA-approved basic course included classes in Disaster Preparedness, Medical Operations I & II, Light Search and Rescue, Fire Suppression, Team Organization and Disaster Psychology, and was held on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos.
West County CERT is comprised of the cities of Los Alamitos, Cypress, La Palma, Buena Park, Westminster and Seal Beach. Classes were taught by advanced community members of CERT, as well as police and fire personnel from the area cities and Care Ambulance Emergency Medical Technicians.
The training took place over four days and concluded with a mock drill, where search and rescue techniques and medical operations were practiced and observed by the trainers. CERT training is designed to help people understand how to maintain self-sufficiency in the event of a major disaster, when professional first responders might not be immediately available. Advanced CERT members also volunteer during major localized events with tasks such as crowd control and back line support of first responders.
For more information or if you would like to sign-up for the next class, please e-mail westcountycert@yahoo.com or visit westcountycert.org or call Corporal Mike Morin at 562-336-8880.
