Convoy of Hope Receives CERT Training
At the end of January, 18 staff members from Convoy of Hope USDR, International and US Outreach, and a member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce took the CERT Training through Greene County OEM, strengthening Convoy of Hope’s partnership with both Greene, and with Missouri State Emergency Management, as well as enhancing response capabilities. Staff participated in classroom lectures and live exercises which simulated putting out fires, triage of wounded victims of a disaster and conducting search and rescue operations.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
“Many people call our office and want to know what they can do to be involved in disasters,” says Paul Coroleuksi, U.S. Disaster Response associate director. “CERT is the best first step. Through CERT individuals learn how to help themselves, and then their neighbors after a disaster. Just doing that is a tremendous help to the emergency response community.” Coroleuksi strongly recommends that anyone who wants to be a disaster volunteer first take a CERT training class in their community.
“Preparedness - the ability of each individual to take care of himself and his family is vital,” says Kary Kingsland, U.S. Disaster Response director. “As a group who uses volunteers to do what we do, it is incredibly important to us to have individuals who know how to be prepared, so that they are then able to reach out to others.”
For more on the CERT program, please visit https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/.
To learn more about how you can be involved in Convoy of Hope’s Disaster Response efforts, please contact the USDR team.