The City of Santa Monica’s Office of Emergency Management will offer the City’s inaugural Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training in August.
CERT is a nationally recognized community emergency response training program which teaches emergency skills such as disaster preparedness, fire safety, medical operations, basic search and rescue methods, and disaster psychology and terrorism awareness.
The training is free to anyone 18 years and older who lives or works in Santa Monica.
The class will meet for six hours on three consecutive Saturday’s at the Santa Monica Fire Department’s training facility.
Those who wish to participate can register online at www.smgov.net/oem or by calling 310.458.2263.
“CERT members will play a crucial role in the City’s ability to effectively respond to and recovery from a disaster”, said Ken Semko the City’s Emergency Manager.
“CERT was designed to engage and train community members to assist public officials in a time of need and I am confident that our community members will rise to the occasion” said Semko.
CERT instructors from the Santa Monica Fire Department, Santa Monica Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management will provide a comprehensive and engaging curriculum which will teach community members how to effectively prepare for and respond to a city wide emergency or disaster.
More CERT classes will be offered in the fall of 2012 and other classes will be scheduled throughout the year.
For registration information please contact the Office of Emergency Management at 310.458.2263, email oem@smgov.net or visit www.smgov.net/oem.
