Madison County’s CERT program is steadily working toward its goal of having trained emergency response teams in all communities.
CERT — the acronym for Community Emergency Response Team — has 50 trained people in the county. According to Madison County Citizen Corps council chair Melinda Tichenor, the county CERT program hopes to have 70 people trained before 2007.
“We are working on getting a team in each of the communities. Our goal is to get 70 people trained in the county by the end of the year,” said Tichenor.
Jointly funded through Homeland Security Grants and the State Citizens Corps, Madison County’s CERT program has steadily expanded its presence since its start in October 2005. Twenty-hour CERT training programs have already been held in Ennis, Alder, and Harrison/Pony. A training in planned for the Twin Bridges community this October and plans are in the works to bring a training to the Sheridan community later this year.
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Once the initial training is complete, Tichenor says the CERT’s within each community will further develop their emergency response plans.
“Once we get initial training finished we’ll get our teams together and get more in-depth. We’ll decide how the team will respond and who will do what.” Tichenor adds that CERT trained volunteers can take on many different roles. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable working with the medical needs that may arise in an emergency, they can take on a non-medical role in an area such as traffic control or fire safety.
“We will divide people up into the areas they want to volunteer in. If someone isn’t comfortable in one area, there are plenty of other areas for them. There are just an endless amount of things available for people to do in an emergency situation,” said Tichenor.
The 20-hour CERT training includes 16 hours of hands-on, small group instruction and 4 hours of simulated CERT exercises. Topics covered include disaster preparedness, fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, team organization, disaster psychology, and terrorism. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their community when professional responders are not readily available.
According to Tichenor, The CERT training emphasizes hands-on instruction. Trainees participate in exercises that teach valuable skills such as splinting, shock treatment, controlling bleeding, See CERT, Page 3 CERT…
Continued from Page 1 fire safety, and cribbing. Cribbing exercises play an important role in earthquake preparedness as they teach people how to raise heavy objects to get people out safely. Once trained, CERT members receive a kit that includes a hard-hat, vest, and other emergency type supplies that will recognize them as CERT trained.
“The whole gist of the course is to provide the skills and information to keep yourself, your family, and you community safe in the event of an emergency,” said Tichenor.
CERT trained members are taught to first make sure everything is ok at home. Once it is determined that things are ok at home, they are taught to check on their neighbors. CERT volunteers then go to a specific site to find out what to do next to help their community. Following this protocol, Tichenor says CERT members are essentially an extra set of hands for the county’s first responders.
“We have such a limited number of deputies and responders in the county. They are spread pretty thin as it is. Having CERT’s in each community is like having an extra set of responders and support staff ready to help when needed,” said Tichenor.
Right now most of the county’s CERT trained volunteers are already first responders involved in fire, ambulance, or quick response units. Since the county has written the CERT program into its disaster plane, Tichenor says there is a need for more non-responder CERT members.
“The training is invaluable,” said Tichenor. “It is information that everyone in the county should know. You never know when you are going to come upon a situation where you will need to know how to handle things. CERT gives you a basis for how to respond,” said Tichenor.
The Twin Bridges CERT training is already underway; however, it is not too late to join the training. Those interested in beginning the training process can begin Saturday, October 14. The training will be held in the Montana Room at Twin Bridges High School from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Units 1, 3, 4, and 6 were covered on the October 7 training day. Units 2, 5, 7, and 8 will be covered on October 14. The training will, conclude on October 15 with a course review and disaster simulation drills from 1-4 p.m. CERT training is free.
Additionally, two special traffic control trainings are planned for Ennis and Sheridan. Sheridan’s training will be held at 7 p.m. on October 30. The Ennis training is scheduled for 7 p.m. on November 1. Both trainings are free and will cover traffic control protocol in the event of an accident, evacuation, or other emergency.
For more information on CERT training or the upcoming traffic control trainings, contact Tichenor at (406) 581-5716 or via e-mail at madcoccc@3rivers.net.
Keeley Fitzgerald keeleyfitz@hotmail.com