You don't have to learn about disasters from the school of hard knocks. Just recently, the newest class of CERTs graduated the fall training session given by the City. It's especially worth noting here that 3 of these new CERTs belong to our Churchill Area Neighborhood Disaster Organization, CAN DO, bringing our roster up to 21 trained CERTs.
 
Everyone, trainers and trainees alike, is volunteering their time and effort to make the sessions happen. The common bond is a desire to understand what could happen in a disaster and prepare in some small way for it. The individual classes, while differing in content, focus on a preparedness topics and are always interesting. And they're fun.
 
Training sessions are approximately twice a year in spring and fall. The sessions typically take eight evenings, usually Mondays and Wednesdays, over four weeks with a "final" disaster exercise on the Saturday of the final week. The evening classes run from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM and are a combination of presentations and skill-building exercises.
 
Classes are focused on building a foundation in the five CERT skills: fire suppression, light search and rescue, triage, medical operations, and disaster psychology.
 
For additional information on when the next CERT training will be held, contact Joe Rizzi or Patence Winningham at the City of Eugene (1-541-682-5664) or via email Joseph.D.Rizzi@ci.eugene.or.us or Patence.M.Winningham@ci.eugene.or.us