Do you know what to do in the event of a crisis in your area?  Would you like to be able to protect yourself, your family, and help neighbors when such an event occurs?

Cobb County posted the following announcement to its website:

Join Cobb’s CERT community, a vital part of our community’s safety network. As a member of the Community Emergency Response Team, you’ll play a crucial role in assisting in disaster response situations and protecting and serving your fellow community members.

To become a CERT member, you must complete three training sessions on consecutive Saturdays.  Cobb County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) has three opportunities to complete the upcoming training.  Each session runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a lunch break.

The dates of upcoming training are:

                        September        7th, 14th, & 21st, 2024

                        October            5th, 12th, & 19th, 2024

                        November        2nd, 9th, & 16th, 2024

The training is free and requires registration. 

Those interested should fill out the online application at https://cobbcounty.seamlessdocs.com/f/CERTInitialTraining

Applicants must follow up by emailing Bernard.king@Cobbcounty.org

with a photo of their driver’s license and indicate which month they want to attend this preparedness training.

Topics covered are:

·       Disaster Awareness
·       Fire and Utility Safety
·       Medical
·       Search and Rescue
·       Organization for Disasters
·       Disaster Psychology
·       Terrorism Awareness

This training is not just about learning; it’s about empowerment. Upon graduation, participants receive a Certificate of Completion, a backpack with basic supplies and tools to continue their preparation, and information about numerous opportunities to volunteer within Cobb County and the surrounding communities. Volunteering with a disaster response partner provides specialty training and establishes affiliations that credential individuals to respond in disasters with less red tape.  CERT Training is a prerequisite for joining any Cobb EMA Volunteer Teams: Volunteer Administrative Support, Damage Assessment, Auxiliary Communications, or Search and Rescue Teams.

Go online today and apply for your 2024 C.E.R.T. Training while seats are available.

First come. First served!

What is CERT?

In an earlier conversation with the Courier, King said, “What is the number one threat we all face in the way of disasters? Fires. Wherever we live, work, worship, everywhere we go there could be a fire. How do you plan?  How do you respond?  How do you recover from that? If you make a plan, if you create an awareness about it, and you decide how you’re going to respond before it ever occurs, then you’ve worked it out a little bit in your brain, and your learning curve is not as big.”

The Cobb County website describes the program as follows:

The Community Emergency Response
Team (CERT) Program provides an opportunity for Cobb County citizens to
gain knowledge about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact
their areas 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
neighborhoods or workplaces following events when professional
responders are not immediately available to help.

To join Cobb County CERT, you must:

• Be over the age of 16
• Live, work or worship in Cobb County
• Pass a Criminal History background check