Ready or Not #30: CERT (Part Two)

I want to talk a little more about the importance of being CERT certified and how it will benefit you and your community.

It is amazing how people react during an emergency, and whether you believe it or not, you really won’t know what you will do until an emergency happens. You hope that you will be at your best and that you will be able to keep a clear mind, but unless you have trained yourself to react in a certain way, there is a good chance that you could have a meltdown. If you train your brain as to how you should react in certain situations, most of the time your brain will take over until you can catch up.

That is a good thing.

First, I want to tell you why I feel that it is so important that we get our youth CERT certified. When I say youth, I mean 12 years and older. If an emergency were to happen while they are at school, or the mall, or just anywhere that isn’t home, we want to make sure that they are able and capable to act responsibly. We want to have the assurance that they will be the ones that are in control and helping others and NOT the ones that are hysterical without a clue as to what needs to be done, or how to do it safely. Wouldn’t it be comforting to know that most, if not all, of our youth were CERT trained if something happened at school? We wouldn’t have to rely on the hope that the teachers were okay and in control.

When you get your CERT certification you will get a picture ID that you should carry with you at all times. In an emergency a 12-year-old that has the CERT ID legally has more power than does a 42-year-old adult that hasn’t been trained. Think about that. My son got his CERT certification when he was 12 years old and since that time, he has gathered together his own CERT pack of emergency equipment. I know that if my son is not physically hurt, he will not only be able to take care of himself, but he will also be able to help those around him. As a parent that makes me feel good. Wouldn’t this be great training to get prepared to go on a mission, or off to college? Look at all of the disasters around the world that our local missionaries or college students could help with – it would be nice if they knew what they were doing and could be of real help.

Another reason we should all get our certification is because the more people that become CERT trained in your town or city, the more grants our community will be able to apply for from the Federal Government. That is free money to help prepare our community for a disaster, but the grants depend on the number of people who are CERT certified in each community. They want to make sure that the community is vested in the training and that they will know how to use the items most efficiently and effectively.

If the other reasons didn’t catch your attention, I’m sure that this will. If you are CERT certified, you can get on to the states Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) site and register your name as a volunteer for the state. That means that if there were an emergency mass inoculation, like the Chicken Pox rumored scare a while back, registered CERT members get inoculated first if they choose to. The reasoning behind this is much like putting the air masks on you first, and your children second, in an airplane emergency. They want to make sure that the people who are trained to help in disasters are protected so that they can help with the remaining masses. Now, do you want you and your children protected first, or to be part of the remaining masses?

Dawn