Watch Jefferson County

Free Family Emergency Preparedness Training!

Charles Town, WV--The Jefferson County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will be offering the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Training, beginning April 3, 2008.

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 held at the Public Services Facility in Bardane. (1948 Wiltshire Road, Kearneysville) from 6 – 9 p.m.

Class Schedule
Thursday, April 3 : Disaster Preparedness
Monday, April 7: Fire Safety
Wednesday, April 16: Disaster Medical Ops I
Tuesday, April 22 : Disaster Medical Ops II
Thursday, May 1: Crime Prevention & Terrorism Awareness
Monday, May 12: Disaster Mental Health, Animals in Disaster, and People with Special Needs
Wednesday, May 21: Light Search & Rescue
Thursday, May 29: 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 Terri Mehling at 728-3329 to request an application. Or you may email to tmehling@jeffersoncountywv.org.