Red Cross puts 11 through CERT training
The American Red Cross graduated 11 new San Benito County
volunteer workers from the Community Emergency Response Team
training program. The graduation was held at the Red Cross office
in Hollister on Jan. 10. San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill was
present to swear in the new volunteers at the graduation
ceremony.
Red Cross puts 11 through CERT training
The American Red Cross graduated 11 new San Benito County volunteer workers from the Community Emergency Response Team training program. The graduation was held at the Red Cross office in Hollister on Jan. 10. San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill was present to swear in the new volunteers at the graduation ceremony.
“We had 11 graduates and we’re very happy about that,” said Red Cross Public Support Director Laura Kershner.
The ceremony also showcased some of the skills that the graduates learned.
“We ran them through some scenarios at the graduation,” said CERT instructor Jo Anna Martin Del Campo. Several local Hollister kids from the high school and the Sheriff’s explorer program acted like they were injured and were treated by the graduates. “We had the class go through and evaluate them,” said Martin Del Campo.
The CERT program is offered in various counties in California, Kershner said. The graduates of the program attend 24 hours of classes covering a variety of topics including first aid, search and rescue, earthquake awareness and family preparedness. The eight different topics, or modules, are taught to help someone who is responding to an emergency contain the situation for 72 hours until public safety personnel can get there, said Martin Del Campo. With limited resources available to San Benito County, this program helps train citizens to “do some of the things that public safety would do” in case of emergency, she said.
“It’s a thorough training,” Kershner said. “Those that are volunteering for us will have to use the skills quite frequently.”
“I was amazed of the detail and level of training provided,” said CERT program graduate Brad Klemek. It was quite comprehensive.” He is a retired fire engineer with Carmel Valley, whose family is heavily involved with fire and emergency response. Klemek took the course to stay active and “because it’s really tough to walk away from (emergency response).”
Klemek is also in the process of offering his services to the American Red Cross.
“I’m in the process of doing it right now,” he said. “With my skills and experience, I want to offer that up to the community.”
Martin Del Campo said that five of the graduates have signed up for advanced classes in emergency preparedness.
“This is the first step,” Martin Del Campo said. “The better we can get trained up, the better it will be for the community.”
Of the 11 graduates, five have offered their time to the American Red Cross for disaster relief in San Benito and Monterey counties. The Red Cross offers disaster relief for a majority of the two counties covering an approximately 4,200 square mile service delivery area that houses about 460,000 people, according to Kershner. She said that most of their focus will be for local families in need of disaster relief.
“They will be helping families in the midst of a catastrophe. They should end up with a well rounded view of disaster response,” Kershner said.
Klemek said that it wouldn’t take too much to really disrupt the emergency response services in the county and with only two ambulances, the county needs all the help it can get.
“We need to do this,” Klemek said. “It doesn’t take too much to wipe out our professional emergency services.”
The future of the program is in good shape. This graduating class only had 11 graduates but around 30 people signed up, said Martin Del Campo. Many of those who didn’t get to take the class this period are on the waiting list for the next class. She said that the waiting list has about 30 on it right now.
“We had a great response from the community. It really worked well,” Martin Del Campo said.
For more information on the program or ways you can get involved, contact the Monterey – San Benito Counties Chapter of the American Red Cross at 424-4824 or visit their Web site at www.montereyarc.org.
