Be Prepared: Disaster Preparedness Fair/CERT Training on Campus

Be prepared. Two campus events take that advice to heart and offer activities and workshops to help everyone be prepared for the unexpected, both on campus and off.

 

The first activity is the Disaster Preparedness Fair hosted by Utah State University Extension and Cache County American Red Cross. In a creative promotional announcement, everyone is invited to attend.

 

The second activity trains and prepares campus personnel for unexpected emergencies.

 

Emergency Preparedness, a program on campus, has set an objective of having at least one Campus Emergency Response Team (CERT) in every building on campus. Teams should include four or five members.

 

While that objective has been met in some buildings on campus, the majority of the buildings are still short of the goal, said Sgt. Lynn Wright, emergency management coordinator on campus.

 

To meet the goal, a nine-week CERT training course is planned. The first session begins Thursday, May 12, and runs from 9 a.m. until noon. Classes will be taught for the next eight weeks in the Champ Room in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The final class is June 30. Complete, 100 percent attendance is required to successfully fulfill the training. With the agreement of deans, department heads or directors, Sgt. Wright encourages all interested personnel to attend.

 

The CERT course prepares individuals in each building with the basic training necessary to first, respond and assist coworkers, students and other occupants of the building in the event of a disaster or building evacuation. The second responsibility is to assist other departments throughout campus that may need additional help.

 

In the event of a major emergency on campus, it is likely that the immediate services of professional responders (firefighters, EMTs, paramedics or hazardous materials teams) will not be available. "We will more than likely be on our own for several hours," Wright said.

 

Campus CERT training is free and all instructors are professionals. Participants are provided the minimum safety equipment necessary for self-protection when responding to the campus community. Those who wish to participate in the training should work with department heads or directors to receive approval to attend the three-hour session each week.

 

Contact Sgt. Wright, 797-0805, with any questions about the program. Only 30 participants are permitted in each class and pre-registration is required.

 

For more information on the CERT program, visit the university police Web page and click on "Emergency Management."