West Windsor Fire and Emergency Services and the West Windsor Police Department invite residents to a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class beginning on Monday, September 12. The classes will be held at the Princeton Junction Firehouse through November. The class is free.
The program provides education about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact the area and trains citizens in basic disaster response skills. The CERT program was developed by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985 and implemented in 1987 during an earthquake.
Following a major disaster, first responders who provide fire and medical services will not be able to meet the demand for these services. Factors including number of victims, communication failures, and road blockages will prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment’s notice through 911. People will have to rely on each other for help in order to meet their immediate lifesaving and life sustaining needs.
Topics in the class include hazard recognition, basic first aid practices, fire extinguisher use, terrorism awareness, CPR, and more. The skills are designed to aid individuals in safeguarding their families and assisting their neighbors. The goals focus on decision making skills, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
At the completion of the course students receive a duffle bag with some essentials for disaster response and are invited the join the formal CERT team. Continuing education is offered to increase knowledge. CERT members are capable of supporting emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in the community.
This is the ninth class for West Windsor’s CERT training and more than 100 residents have already gone through training. Contact Lt. Joseph Gribbins at 609-799-2400 or E-mail him at westwindsorcert@gmail.com
