The idea to train volunteers from the community to assist emergency service personnel during times of emergency and natural disaster began in 1985 in Los Angeles when city officials went to Japan to study its extensive earthquake preparedness plans. Single-function neighborhood teams were trained in either, fire suppression, light search and rescue operations, first aid or evacuation.

That September, a Los Angeles city investigation team was sent to Mexico City following an earthquake there that registered a magnitude 8.1 on the Richter scale and killed more than 10,000 and left more than 30,000 injured. Mexico City had not emergency training in place. The lessons learned in Mexico and in Japan indicated that a plan to train volunteers to help themselves and others, and who could become an adjunct to government response, was needed as an essential part of overall preparedness, survival and recovery.

In 1986 Los Angeles Fire Department developed a pilot program to train a group of leaders in a neighborhood watch organization. This became the basis for an expanded program that was adopted by FEMA in 1993 and given the name CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). To date the program is in place across the US and in 6 foreign countries.

In September members of the Donelson community will have an opportunity to take part in a CERT training program at the Fifty Forward Donelson Station location. The course is designed to help protect your family and your neighborhood in emergency situations. Among the topics covered, disaster preparedness, terrorism awareness, fire suppression, disaster medical first aid, search and rescue and more are on the list.

The instructional team includes instructors from the Nashville Fire Department, Office of Emergency Management, Red Cross, Health Department and other essential Metro offices. The instruction is a combination of class room and hands on experiences and is 16 hours in duration. Classes will be taught on two successive Saturdays (September 11 and September 18) beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 4:00 p.m. each day. In order to receive CERT Certification a participant MUST attend both days of training.

If you are interested in adding your name to this initial training event please respond to or by calling 889-2907 with your name and contact information.