There are 20 community members now capable of assisting and filling in for emergency responders following a disaster in San Benito County—and the County Office of Emergency Services hopes for more next time around.
The first sanctioned Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Citizens’ Academy graduated March 14, following eight weeks of training and a simulated disaster exercise held at the Hollister Airport.
According to San Benito County emergency services specialist Kris Mangano, disaster preparedness is critical in San Benito County, as it sits on two major—and active—faults: The San Andreas and the Calaveras.
Taught by a certified CERT instructor with assistance from Hollister Fire Department and American Medical Response, among others, volunteers learned about disaster preparedness and were trained in basic disaster response skills.
Instructor Michael Linthicum, who has worked with CERT programs in Santa Clara County and helped launch the program in San Benito County, said CERT training prepares volunteers to help family and neighbors in the event of a disaster.
“During an incident, emergency service personnel may not be able to reach everyone right away,” said Linthicum, a retired U.S. Army officer. “By getting training in CERT, you will have the skills to help emergency responders save lives and protect property.”
Graduate Rick Espino, a retired CalFire captain, said although the skills taught in the class were not new to him, he joined in to share his experience and assist in growing the program.
“I took this course to see what it was about and because I want to be an instructor for our local community,” he said. “I am hoping I can help make this a successful program in our community.”
Espino said the class is great for the average citizen who isn’t sure how to assist during a major event.
“We learned basic first aid, how to recognize dangerous buildings so as not to enter, how to seek additional help, how to act in a safe manner and how to help organize more volunteer citizens to assist in a disaster,” he said. “I learned this is a class I want to help with because it is of value to the average person that has no emergency background training, but wants to help in a disaster.”
According to Linthicum, CERT teams help provide critical support under the direction of local emergency responders. The new graduates can now give immediate assistance to victims, assess damage and organize other volunteers at a disaster site.
“Overall, I would say it was a very eclectic group of motivated individuals; we had retired first responders, business owners, elected city officials, husbands and wives and more,” he said. “Those who continue with the CERT team will learn additional skills to further their influence to assist with family, business and neighborhoods.”
A certificate of completion is issued to each graduate, according to Linthicum, and is good for life. And he said the training program can benefit the entire community.
“The age range (in the first class) was from the mid-20s to early 70s,” he said. “We believe there is a place for everyone in the CERT program.”
Linthicum has high hopes for the future of the program, including advanced CERT training that will lead to specific certifications in things such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED), first aid, search and rescue, animal rescue and more. He also sees a specific need for a large portion of the San Benito County population.
“In the future, my goal is to assemble a bilingual team to teach the course in Spanish and address a largely underserved community,” Linthicum said.
For those interested, the next free CERT training program runs from 6 to 9 p.m. for eight weeks beginning April 14 at the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, and concludes with an exercise May 30. Register by April 2 by calling (831) 636-4168 or email kmangano@cosb.us for more information.