Lexington, KY - Thinking ahead, even when the subject ranges from the unpleasant to the unthinkable, often turns out to be a lifesaver for individuals as well as entire communities.
Preparedness is the concept that recently attracted 12 citizens to take part in the
latest Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class. A rigorous eight weeks of instruction culminated with a final exercise and graduation ceremony at the Lexington Fire Training Center on Thursday, Oct. 20.
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(To view a slideshow of images from the exercise,
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"The purpose of CERT is to provide training to individuals, members of neighborhood associations and other groups so in case of an emergency or natural disaster, they can provide immediate help to preserve life, property and the environment until professional first responders can arrive," said Pat Dugger, Director of Lexington's Division of Emergency Management.
"CERT members also become preparedness ambassadors, a group of volunteers who assist with community emergency management programs and exercises."
CERT training classes are three hours long and teach disaster preparedness, fire safety and suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, team organization, terrorism incident and accident response.
The last class is an actual disaster exercise.
Class members face rescue and recovery scenarios, victim first aid, fire fighting and other situations they would face in case of an actual disaster.
CERT classes began in 2004 and since then, the Division of Emergency Management has organized 15 classes and more than 175 people have completed the coursework.
Depending on class content, classes are taught by members of the Lexington Fire Department or the Division of Emergency Management staff.
Upon graduation, CERT members receive a backpack filled with preparedness supplies.
The next CERT class will take place in spring 2012.
Pre-registration is required and class size is limited.
Those interested should contact CERT coordinator, Shelley Bendall, at (859) 258-3784 or by emailing sbendall@lexingtonky.gov for registration forms and materials.
A more detailed description about the CERT program is available on the government web site at: http://www.lexingtonky.gov/cert.