Jackson CERT holds training program
JACKSON, Wyoming (KIFI) - Starting on Sept. 30, the Teton County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be holding a bootcamp to help train new volunteers on how they can help support their community in the event disaster strikes.
"CERT is an active volunteer-based program for any member of our community age 18 or older who wants to learn some basic emergency and disaster response skills to take back home and also to help their neighbors and their community in times of emergencies, no matter what size," Teton County Emergency Manager Anna Day said.
Currently, Teton County CERT has 50 to 60 volunteers with half of them coming to the monthly trainings fairly regularly. Day says the program is growing and gathering a lot of interest. The training program is set to be 32 hours and will take place over the course of a few weekends starting on Sept. 30.
"We're looking at Saturday, September 30, and Sunday, October 1, and then the following weekend, Saturday and Sunday, October 7th and eighth, 8 hours each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at our emergency operations center in Jackson," Day said.
The training goes over the skills needed for participants to help first responders in the event disaster strikes.
"We will be covering all sorts of skills that volunteers can use to kind of improve their personal preparedness and then build that up so that they can first assist themselves and their families and then their neighbors and the whole community in the event of a disaster," Day said.
Day says CERT is designed to help people deal with all types of disasters and each local chapter is different. But they all are designed to respond to any emergency.
"It's for all hazards. So I would say we still definitely focus on earthquakes because that in Jackson would be one of the huge disasters that we worry about living in a system of five different active faults, faults. But, you know, it can also be helpful for putting out a small fire in your house from cooking with a fire extinguisher," Day said.
Day says the training program still has a few spots left. Those interested in participating can go here.
