CERT - Community Emergency Response Team

Local government prepares for everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation.

CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initally be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to:

• manage utilities and put out small fires
• treat the three medical killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock
• provide basic medical aid
• search for and rescue victims safely
• organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective
• collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts

Why do the CERT training?

Well, it's like paying for car insurance. You might never need either; you'd hope not to. But if the occasion arises, having the CERT training, just like having car insurance, means you're as ready as you can be to help yourself, your family, and your neighborhood.

How do I join?

CERT members receive 20 hours of initial training. The course is followed by full-day biannual refresher drills. For class information please call Melrose Park Public Safety at 708-345-4350 ext. 333