Community Emergency Response Team - Van Buren County Sheriff

The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office has sponsored the training of a CERT group in the county. The training was held in 2009 and again in 2010. This nine week course helps to prepare citizens for a disaster.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic

disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The Van Buren County group is registered with the State of Michigan under the Michigan Citizen Corps, which is administered by the State Police Emergency Management & Homeland Security Division. It is also registered with the national Citizen Corps as well.

The class is funded by a grant from Homeland Security. The grant paid for the instruction and supplies, as well as furnished each participant with a backpack complete with emergency tools and supplies. Each kit had first aid supplies, gloves, goggles, safety vest, duct tape, Leatherman tool, hydration pack, gas-water valve tool, crescent wrench and a flashlight.

The county residents who completed the class received a certificate of completion as well. Not only did they complete the CERT curriculum (listed below), they when beyond and completed three on line classes from the Emergency Management Institute, The National Incident Management System (NIMS) courses are meant for emergency responders; each class required as much as 4 hours to complete. The courses were IS-100.a Introduction to Incident Command System, IS-200.a ICS for single Resources and Initial Action Incidents and IS-700.a National Incident Management System, an Introduction. Also, because of our proximity to two nuclear power plants, the class received Radiation Emergency Preparedness training.

This group of volunteers (CERT) joins three other groups of volunteers that the Sheriff’s office currently sponsors; they are the Reserve Officers Unit, the Mounted Division and the Victim Services Unit. Without these volunteer groups, many services that the Van Buren County residents currently enjoy would not be possible.

This class will begin September 26, 2011. For those who are interested, please fill out and submit an application to be considered. Click here to download the application file.

Unit	Topics
1	Disaster Preparedness Introductions Recent Disasters and Emergencies Course Preview Disasters and Disaster Workers Impact on the Infrastructure Hazard Mitigation Home and Workplace Preparedness Community Preparedness Protection for Disaster Workers
2	Fire Safety Fire Chemistry Reducing Fire Hazards in the Home and Workplace Hazardous materials CERT Sizeup Firefighting Resources Fire Suppression Safety
3	Disaster Medical Operations - Part 1 Treating Life - Threatening Conditions Triage
4	Disaster Medical Operations - Part 2 Public Health Considerations Functions of Disaster Medical Operations Establishing Treatment Areas Conducting Head-to-Toe Assessments Treating Burns Wound Care Treating Fractures, Dislocations, Sprains, and Strains Splinting Nasal Injuries Treating Hypothermia
5	Light Search and Rescue Operations Search and Rescue Sizeup Conducting Search Operations Conducting Rescue Operations
6	CERT Organization CERT Organization CERT Decision-making Documentation
7	Disaster Psychology Team Well-Being Working with Survivors' Trauma
8	Terrorism and CERT What is Terrorism? Terrorist Targets Terrorist Weapons B-NICE Indicators Preparing at Home and Work CERTs and Terrorist Incidents
9	Course Review and Disaster Simulation Course Review Disaster Simulation

For additional information, contact
Reserve Officer Dale Hoch at 269-214-2340 or by email

Disaster Preparedness