Importance of Emergency Preparedness
We’ve probably all wondered what we—and our community—would do in the event of a major disaster. The most obvious hazard is an earthquake, but fire and weather events can happen at any time.
One of the answers is CERT—the Community Emergency Response Team. There are over 2,700 CERT organizations in local communities across the country. Nationwide, over 600,000 people have received CERT Training. FEMA supports us by providing training standards. CERT came to Tualatin in 2016 with approval by the Tualatin City Council. The Tualatin CERT and Ham Team is a 501(c)3 tax exempt nonprofit.
Tualatin Neighborhood Ready Prepares Yourself & Family
CERT volunteers share critical step-by-step information to help you prepare for a variety of disasters such as urban fires, ice or windstorms, and earthquakes. During or after a disaster, first responders and outside help may not be able available for several days or weeks. Taking care of ourselves, families, and neighbors will be our responsibility.
Learn preparedness steps: Family Plan, Home Hazards, Evacuation Go Bags, Home Supplies Storage, Utility shut-off, and Communication ideas.
Why Join CERT?
CERT trains volunteers—you and your neighbors—in basic disaster skills, including earthquake preparedness, first aid and triage, light search and rescue, fire suppression and disaster response. Not just for earthquakes but for any disaster that could strike.
Participants undergo 25 hours of hands-on training to equip them to care for themselves, their families, neighbors and friends. The course is taught by specially trained volunteers, supplemented by professional first responders. CERT volunteers can also be active participants in a larger team that continues to train together and operates communitywide. It is supported by dozens of licensed amateur radio operators (“Hams”), and also by people with training to use the Family Radio Service (FRS) —a special category created by the Federal Communications Commission. More than half Tualatin’s CERT volunteers are licensed ham radio operators, and
CERT always has a broader, still critical need for people with many different disaster response skills. You could be one of them.
Classes are typically offered twice a year, in a series of evening sessions spread over six weeks. Afterward, CERT volunteers attend periodic training events to keep their most critical skills current. We call those “use it or lose it” skills. You get to meet neighbors who share your interest in community disaster safety and function as part of the communitywide team.
Classes usually start in March and September. Enrollment is capped at 25 per class, and if the next program is full, we’ll happily keep a place for you in the next cycle.