Community Emergency Response Team celebrates 10 years of preparedness training

With the Nation observing Tornado Preparedness Month in March, the 10^th anniversary of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program comes at a perfect time to highlight CERT’s  regional support for disaster response and relief education.

Coordinated by the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC), CERT trains citizens to protect themselves, family, and neighbors from disasters and emergencies. Begun in 2003, the regional CERT program has trained over 450 people with the national CERT curriculum which includes a nine week course on topics including disaster preparedness, fire safety, emergency medical operations, and terrorism awareness.  Once the basic training course is completed, CERT members have the opportunity to take advanced training courses that are offered several times a year as well as volunteer in their communities.

To date, there are 93 active volunteers in the Central Shenandoah Valley CERT program.  CERT volunteers have staffed emergency shelters, set-up a temporary pet shelter, and manned disaster preparedness informational booths at countless community events.  Dedicated CERT volunteers have spent an entire decade donating their time to making the Central Shenandoah Valley disaster resistant.

Teri Robinson, CERT volunteer and instructor describes the value of the CERT program: “As a CERT member and in teaching a section of the course to new CERT prospects, I have enjoyed both ends of the spectrum.  CERT is valuable to our rural community to ensure the First Responders, who are under pressure daily from multiple sources, have additional trained support to help manage and minimize damage over a widespread area. On the personal side, the caliber of people in the CERT program and in the First Responder community is above average and I walk away from every meeting and class with a renewed sense of good will and purpose.”

Tornado Preparedness Month is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and encourages citizens to make a plan, prepare an emergency kit and stay informed during tornado events.