Watch Jefferson County

Charles Town, WV--The Jefferson
County Office of Homeland Security will be offering the CERT (Community
Emergency Response Team) Training, beginning January 9, 2007.

Are you and your family prepared
for floods, high winds, tornados, hazardous materials spills, power
outages or winter storms? Have you thought about how these things
might affect your life, your work, your child’s education, your commute
and/or your health? Have you prepared a disaster supply kit or
a family disaster plan? Do you want to know how to use a fire
extinguisher and how to sustain life until actual emergency responders
can get on scene during an emergency? You’ll learn all of these
things, as well as how to prepare your pets for emergencies and disasters,
a few skills in disaster psychology, some basic information about crime
prevention and terrorism awareness, and some thoughts as to how to help
your family or neighbors that might have some special needs.

This training is free and is
designed for regular citizens with little or no experience. It
is also highly recommended for the spouses of emergency responders,
church groups that might be called upon to help out during disasters,
and is a great idea for members of the same homeowners group to keep
your neighborhood safe.

Classes will be on Tuesday
evenings beginning on January 9 at the Public Services Facility in Bardane.
(1948 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville) from 6 – 9 p.m.

Class
Schedule*

Tuesday, January 9

: Disaster Preparedness

Tuesday, January 16:
Fire Safety

Tuesday, January 23:
Disaster Medical Ops I

Tuesday, January 30 :
Disaster Medical Ops II

Tuesday, February 6:
Crime Prevention & Terrorism Awareness

Thursday, February 15:
Disaster Mental Health, Animals in Disaster, and People with Special
Needs

Tuesday, February 20:
Light Search & Rescue

Tuesday, February 27:
CERT Volunteerism, Test, Final Exercise & Graduation

All classes are taught by professionals
in the corresponding field of expertise.

All Classes are provided at
no charge to the participants. All participants who complete all
8 sessions and the final exercise will receive a certificate of participation
and be issued a hard hat, and a CERT Vest. Any participant that
does not attend all courses or that is late or leaves early will have
to make up that section of the course when the next round of courses
are offered.

Pre-registration is necessary
and can be done by calling Barbara Miller at 728-3329 to request an
application. Or you may email to bmiller@jeffersoncountywv.org.