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February 12, 2012

Whitfield recertified for CERT grant

By Mitch Talley Whitfield County director of communications Dalton Daily Citizen

For the third year, Whitfield County Emergency Management Agency has been awarded a state grant for volunteer emergency response training.

Over the past two years, local officials have already trained 89 volunteers to be a part of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which helps respond in the aftermath of major disasters, natural or manmade.

The new $8,000 grant — along with the remaining $1,250 on the fiscal year 2010 grant — will be used to purchase training materials, field response guide books, CERT response kits that include personal protective gear and other items needed for response, contract instructors, hotel and travel expenses to attend mandatory training, and other training supplies used for the program. It will also pay for continuing education classes for current CERT members.

The Whitfield County commissioners recently voted 3-0 during a special called meeting to approve the funding of $9,250 for the CERT/Homeland Security grant that will later be 100 percent reimbursed by the Georgia EMA with no match requirements.

“CERT is a volunteer program,” said Jeff Ownby, deputy 911 director who helps oversee the training. “They don’t have to have any background; they just have to have a willingness to help basically. We provide all the training, all the equipment you need.”

He said CERT’s mission is three-fold: to educate civilians about emergency preparedness, to teach them how to help themselves during and after an emergency, and to certify them as CERT responders to help EMA and other emergency personnel during a crisis or disaster.

The first class of 2012 will be held April 14, 15 and 21 for eight hours each day. To sign up, you can go to the Whitfield County website at www.whitfieldcountyga.com and click on the EMA or 911 links under the “Public Safety” button at the top of the page to download an application that can be turned in to local officials.

Classes are taught by emergency responders, including firefighters, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel from the community.

CERT members are provided basic-level training in the following areas at no cost to the individual:

• Disaster fire suppression

• Disaster medical operations

• Disaster preparedness

• Disaster psychology and team organization

• Disaster simulation — skills review

• Light search and rescue operations

• Terrorism

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