A disaster preparedness course offered by the city of Tempe gives people the tools to take the right steps when things go wrong.
The Community Emergency Response Team program is a free class in Tempe that teaches participants how to survive and help others if disaster strikes, said Mike Reichling, manager of the Tempe Fire Department’s CERT program.
“People have to take it upon themselves to be prepared and react,” he said. “In times of a disaster, we’re not always going to be able to get to you.”
The 21-hour course, taught over about six weeks, is offered four times a year.
It focuses on topics like basic first aid, family evacuation plans, search and rescue, and the use and maintenance of fire extinguishers, Reichling said.
“We are giving you the knowledge and the skills to take care of yourself, your family and your neighbors,” he said.
The CERT training program is promoted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA based the program on a model created by the Los Angeles City Fire Department and has been building it nationally since 1994. The program started in Tempe shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and has been established in hundreds of communities across the U.S., including several in the Valley
Reichling said he is certified to teach the course by the federal government and does so along with a paramedic and trained civilian instructors. He teaches community members how to handle emergency situations before the paramedics, police or fire department arrive on the scene.
In severe disaster situations, Reichling said one could be on their own for up to 72 hours.
“You need to be able to take care of yourself,” he said. “We don’t have a firefighter or police officer for every person.”
Mechanical engineering senior Nathan Joslin received his CERT certification in 2008. He said he learned how to make tough decisions during emergency situations.
“I wouldn’t feel helpless if something were to happen,” he said.
Joslin said he learned how to be a part of the solution during an emergency instead of becoming part of the problem.
“Don’t go from being helper to victim,” he said.
The course showed him what situations he could help in and when it was better to just stay away and call the authorities. It also taught him whom to help first during an emergency.
CERT certified individuals are trained to assess a situation and do what they can to help until emergency personnel arrive on the scene, Joslin said.
“They step in and we can step right out,” he said.
Joyce Jones, a volunteer at the Tempe Fire Department, took the first CERT training class offered in Tempe
“It has been growing and getting better and better every year,” she said.
Jones said she has heard several stories where community members have used their training in real-life emergency situations.
One CERT certified individual came across the scene of a car accident and was able to apply a splint to a victim with a compound fracture until paramedics arrived, she said.
Another valuable emergency tool is the use of amateur radio. About 100 CERT-trained community members have become radio operators in the area.
“When emergency happens, they are able to radio emergency services and let them know the circumstances,” she said.
Nathan Joslin is the first officer of the Amateur Radio Society at ASU, a club on the Tempe campus that provides free classes to students interested in getting a radio license. He is also able to volunteer at events like marathons to monitor safety as a radio operator.
“It’s a great way to practice the things I’ve learned,” he said.
Parts of the CERT course focus on severe weather situations. Reichling said Valley residents should be prepared to face floods, high winds, hazardous materials, severe storms and intense heat.
Logistics leader Joe Rio is from the Midwest and is familiar with severe weather. He said the CERT training is worth the time because it teaches you about everything “from bloody noses to microbursts.”
“You learn to mitigate the effect of disaster,” he said.
The culmination of the CERT training involves a mock emergency situation that allows participants to use the knowledge they have learned outside of the classroom, Reichling said.
“It takes all of the skills and puts them into a hands-on experience,” he said.
Reichling said the drill involves the use of a fire extinguisher in a real fire, search and rescue in a building to find victims, and triage and treatment of victims at a medical station.
All of the course training and drills take place in south Tempe at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1111 E. Knox Road.
The first session began Thursday and the second session begins on Tuesday. Both sessions run from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Reach the reporter at jordan.frakes@asu.edu
