September 2, 2007
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training
Petersburg Fire Dept.’s training division will host a CERT training program starting Sept. 20. CERT training promotes a partnering effort between emergency services and the people that they serve, such that members of neighborhoods, community orgs., and workplaces acquire basic response skills in the event a disastrous event overwhelms or delays the community’s professional response.
Did you know;
* There is a good chance that your neighborhood will be on its own during the early stages following a catastrophic disaster
* After such a disaster, citizens will volunteer to help; without proper training, these people can expose themselves to potential injury
The CERT program teaches participants to:
* Increase their neighborhood’s or workplace’s disaster readiness
* Assess damage after a disaster
* Extinguish small fires and teach fire safety
* Perform light search and rescue operations
* Perform triage and provide basic medical services to the injured
* Organize procurement of supplies
CERT course content:
* Disaster preparedness
* Team organization and disaster pyschology
* Medical operations
* Damage assessment
* Disaster simulation
* Fire suppression
For the course schedule and registration details, contact Capt. Doug Eberhardt or Shalonda Venable of Petersburg Fire Dept.’s Training Division, 804.733.2412.
I’m signing up today.
Gail - when I last spoke with Ms. Venable approx. 2 wks ago, she hadn’t yet nailed down the course schedule. Can you please note if she has now got the schedule defined, and if so, what it will be? Many thanks.
Just spoke to Shalonda, it looks like this class is already filled. But the pertinents are as follows:
6-9 p.m. every Thursday night for eight weeks starting September 20th. no cost. Old fire house off Wagner Road, Training Center. Colonial Heights has had this program for some time, everyone loves it. Be proactive and line up to sign up!
Shalonda just called with the “we’re now full” message. She indicated that the class fills quickly as a great many people pre-register… that is, they sign up indicating interest, and when the training division starts scheduling a new class, the division contacts their wait-list folks about scheduling.
Soooo, if this program sounds interesting, do feel free to call Shalonda to have her place you on the pre-registration for future CERT training programs.
I am a CERT graduate in Petersburg. I found the course to be very informative and very well run. I recomend it to everone that has an interest in their community. I have spoken with members of other communities in Virginia and other states about the CERT program and it’s reputation as a great program is spreading.