Community Emergency Response Team

The Community Emergency Response Team Program educates people 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 neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. There is a CERT Overview paper located at Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) that gives you a complete description of CERT.

20 SHORELINE VOLUNTEERS GRADUATE FROM CERT 2006 CLASS

The City of Shoreline’s sixth CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) team is trained and ready to operate in the event of a major disaster in their neighborhood or workplace. The CERT class was sponsored by Shoreline Fire, Shoreline Police and the City of Shoreline.

Twenty Shoreline residents were trained in fire suppression, basic first aid, search and rescue, disaster psychology, and other aspects of disaster response operations. CERT programs across the country are meant to provide a higher level of preparedness to neighborhoods and communities by training citizens to assist first responders when they are overwhelmed by a man-made or natural disaster. The basic tenet of CERT is that all citizens should be prepared to cope on their own for at least 72 hours after a crisis hits.

“We are proud of the people who step up to volunteer for the CERT training,” said Shoreline Fire Chief Marcus Kragness. “We are pleased to know that some of our most active, involved residents have the desire to help others in the event of an emergency. We expect they will become ambassadors of safety and preparedness in our community and we value the time they have given and the commitment they have made”. CERT team members learned to use fire extinguishers, to assess buildings for light damage, and to begin the process of searching for, rescuing, triaging and treating victims. They also learned about fire and police department operations in the event of a major emergency. A second CERT class is planned for Fall, 2006.

 Click here for a Photo Gallery of the class

30 SHORELINE RESIDENTS GRADUATE FROM CERT PROGRAM 2005

The recent CERT academy was conducted by the Shoreline Fire Department and sponsored by the City of Shoreline. The 8 session class teaches citizens to be leaders in their neighborhoods in the event of a major disaster where professional responders could be overwhelmed. They are trained in light search and rescue, triage, medical operations, disaster mitigation and other emergency management skills. Over 150 residents have taken the training since it's inception in 2003.

See the photo gallery of this class.

SHORELINE CERT

The Shoreline Fire Department is the sponsoring agency for CERT training in Shoreline. Shoreline Fire conducts two academies per year usually in April and September.

In June of 2003, twenty-four Shoreline residents completed the City of Shoreline’s first CERT training program. Class participants were trained in fire suppression, basic first aid, search and rescue, disaster psychology, and other aspects of disaster response operations. CERT programs across the country provide a higher level of preparedness to neighborhoods and communities by training citizens to assist first responders when they are overwhelmed by man-made or natural disasters.

For applications contact Melanie Granfors at 206-533-6500 or by email at mgranfors@shorelinefire.com

For a listing of your local CERT sponsoring agency search the FEMA Directory of CERT programs by State - at Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

For issues involving Community Education, contact mgranfors@shorelinefire.com.