FREE CERT classes scheduled. Be Prepared!

FREE C.E.R.T. (COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM) CLASS

SCHEDULED IN LAKELAND FOR APRIL 17th and 24th, SIGN UP NOW!

Claude Talford
Lakeland Emergency Management Director

A C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Team) class is scheduled at Lakeland City Hall April 17th and 24^th, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. Both classes must be completed to receive C.E.R.T. certificate/certification. You can find the application on the Lakeland website, www.lakelandtn,gov. or sign up at City Hall. We need at least 20 people to sign up for the course. The C.E.R.T. classes are FREE and will prepare Lakeland and area residents to respond to emergencies. If we don’t fill the class it will be difficult to bring the program back to Lakeland, so be sure to inform your entire neighborhood.

Lakeland Residents have a rare opportunity to receive some quality training this month. The C.E.R.T. TO GO program is a trial program and if attendance is low the program may be canceled. If the program is canceled the only way for the citizens of Lakeland to receive the training is to travel to the EMA facility in Midtown Memphis (free course) or pay to take it from the Bartlett Fire Department.

The long term goal is to build a regular training program here in Lakeland once funds become available. Until that time we must depend on the Memphis/Shelby County program or the Bartlett Fire Department.

Good leadership is key to successful disaster response. A damaging flood, fire, earthquake or other emergency might overwhelm local fire, police, hospital, and city personnel. As a result, your neighborhood response teams might have to treat the injured, rescue those who are trapped and assess the damage to homes, neighborhoods, businesses and schools. C.E.R.T. training will provide you tips on how to organize your neighborhood response team.

If your neighborhood, work place or school doesn’t have an emergency response team, form one now. Local agencies such as Emergency Management and Red Cross can give you helpful information in setting up response teams. Emergency response teams will operate best if they are organized and have good leadership. The Planning Committee can develop goals and objectives before the next emergency.

The committee should give a Block or Team Captain the authority to make decisions after an emergency. It’s important, however, that the Block Captain work with other leaders and delegate assignments and responsibilities, as appropriate. To maintain control, no one person should direct more than 5-7 people. House meetings are a valuable tactic for recruiting volunteers and building a team. Your house meeting will help you identify your leadership team. Building community through house meetings is a critical step towards the President’s ultimate goal, which is to support everyday Americans in a grassroots effort to improve lives and strengthen communities.

Check out the following websites/links of interest

American Red Cross www.redcross.org

Citizen Corps www.citizencorps.gov

Ready.gov www.ready.gov

LINC/211 www.memphislibrary.org/linc/211.htm