The Villages - April 2018 - 22

Community EmErgEnCy
rEsponsE tEam
The Villages Community Emergency
Response Team prepares for disasters
its members hope to never experience.
If you have been to an event around The Villages, you
may have noticed people walking around in brightlycolored vests, providing assistance to anyone in need.
Those people are members of CERT, a nationwide
organization with more than 2,700 local chapters.
A program put into place by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency in 1985, CERT trains volunteers
how to respond to a variety of disasters and emergency
situations.

Dana Schultz prepares
volunteers for a disaster drill.

Even though it is a nationwide program, CERT
allows local chapters to customize training, enabling
volunteers to focus their training on the type of events
their region often experiences.
For example, in Florida the CERT training for
hurricane response is much more in-depth than the
training for events such as earthquakes or snowstorms.
New volunteers begin by going through the CERT
basic training program, which covers everything FEMA
requires for new members.
"Our organization is accredited by FEMA, which
means we put people through the course (FEMA) dictates," said David Bussone, deputy commander of The
Villages CERT. "The major difference is we add a session
on CPR and AED use."
CERT training is held twice a year and consists of 10
classes spread over five weeks for a total of 30 hours.
Classes cover everything from fire safety to first aid to
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APRIL 2018

hazardous materials and other related topics. The last
session is a simulated disaster where CERT volunteers
learn how to respond to an event with injured people.
After completing basic training, CERT members
attend other sessions throughout the year to further
enhance their training, many of which are open to
the public. Regardless of how long a volunteer has
been with CERT, he or she
still continues attending
"i joined
training sessions while
because i don't
part of the organization.
have a medical
Once certified in CPR,
or firefighter
volunteers must re-do
background or
their certification every
anything, but
two years, and CPR trainyou learn a lot."
ing sessions are open to
anyone who would like to
- Liza Walters
attend.
Volunteering for CERT is open to anyone, regardless
of age, background or physical limitations. All that
is required is the drive to help your community -
show up willing to offer
assistance and CERT
will find a place for you
in the organization.

CERT South
Commander Dan
Bernier speaks
with his team
over a radio.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - April 2018