Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training
In a catastrophic disaster, government resources (people and supplies) may not be available for several days following the event. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program provides education in disaster preparedness and provides training in basic emergency skills. By preparing neighborhoods and community groups with basic emergency skills we can lessen the effects of a disaster and help sustain ourselves until assistance can arrive.
The City of Berkeley offers free CERT training to anyone who lives or works in Berkeley. You must be 18 years of age or older to attend the trainings. Curriculum includes disaster preparedness, fire safety, disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue operations, CERT Organization as well as continuing education courses.
Berkeley CERT approaches community preparedness through three key components: Response, Training, and Volunteering. Looking at the community's role even before a disaster, citizens must take steps to respond to their own needs for training. Community members plug into preparedness by working on program development, as volunteer trainers, as subject matter experts and as community volunteer responders.
CERT NEWS!
Berkeley CERT's April academy trained 20 new CERT members in organized response and equipped these community leaders with basic skills to help themselves, their families and their community in disaster. Berkeley CERT Academy webpage.
Berkeley CERT conducted flood control and response training in February 2012 to hlep CERT members be ready to respond to winter storms in their community. Watch Berkeley CERT's Expedient Flood Training Video to learn some of these important skills and to see how CERT continues to help with preparing our community for emergencies.
Our community is more than just our City. CERTs from all over the Bay Area share experiences, training and resources. See how CERTs from Concord contributed to Berkeley's readiness to respond to animals in disaster: CERT Animal Response