|  COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (C.E.R.T.) The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program helps train people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims, and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. As part of Keyport’s effort to prepare for disasters of all types, we have a 26 person CERT organization with personnel that are trained and ready to initiate, assist, or augment activities of our first responders and service organizations. The group meets twice a month. Once for business and strategy and once for training. Since 2005 Keyport CERT members have received training in Shelter Management, Shelter Operations, Mass Casualty Care, Boat Safety, and as First Responders, including CPR and AED. If you are interested in learning about basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations, contact this office. When a suitable class size of applicants has been reached, a training session will be scheduled. The total course will consist of approximately twenty hours, divided into 8 evening sessions. Contact Police Officer, Ken Marr at the Keyport Police Department or a member for an application. Over the next two years, the National CERT program aims to double their number of participants, with over 400,000 individuals completing the 20 plus hours of training. Train-the-Trainer sessions will be held in all 56 states and territories over the next year to expand the program throughout the United States.Learn more by visiting the CERT homepage. |