You don't have to be a police officer or a firefighter to help your community during an emergency situation. The Washoe County Sheriff's Office holds its Community Emergency Response Team Academy (CERT Academy) four times a year, to show people how they can help during a disaster.
People can learn about fire safety, basic search and rescue skills, disaster psychology, medical operations, and terrorism awareness.
CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team and is made up of volunteer citizens from your local community who are trained to assist emergency responders in the event of a disaster. To become a CERT team member, you must complete a 26-hour, instructor-led Basic Training Academy.The cost is free, and students must be at least 18 years old.Â
WCSOÂ Citizen Corps Program Manager Michael Perry, "The Air Races disaster out in Stead, CERT volunteers were out there providing traffic and providing immediate care to the victims that were there. Lemmon Valley flood, we responded to the Lemmon Valley flood and did damage assessment and assisted with fire service and FEMA out at that event."
Trainee Adeel Afsar said, "If you see something, you know you can get involved and kind of address the issue and help out rather than being a bystander."
To learn more or to see when the next classes are available you can click here.
(WCSOÂ Contributed to this report.)
