The San Rafael Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services are offering free Community Emergency Response Team training sessions over two weekends next month. The CERT Basic Training is a comprehensive 20-hour course that combines classroom instruction with hands-on exercises. Topics to be covered include:
- Conducting an initial size-up of the situation in the immediate area
- Reducing immediate dangers by turning off utilities, suppressing small fires, and evacuating hazardous areas
- Performing immediate medical triage and basic treatment of injuries
- Assessing structural integrity and performing light search and rescue
- Collecting and recording vital information to be relayed to professional responders on damage, victims, and actions taken or resources needed
- Providing leadership to untrained volunteers
The trainings will be given at Canal Alliance, 711 Grand Avenue, San Rafael on Saturday, March 14 from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM and Saturday, March 21 from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Training concludes with a final disaster simulation drill where attendees will apply all the skills they’ve learned in a realistic emergency scenario on Sunday, March 22 from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM at Fire Station 52, 52 Union St., San Rafael.
There is no charge for this training, but advance registration is required.