Mahaska County CERT Team meeting Saturday
Mahaska County CERT team had it's quarterly meeting Saturday January 29
Mahaska County’s CERT Team had their quarterly meeting Saturday, January 29th in the basement of the Jubilee Family Church in Oskaloosa.
Local members have been attending courses on CPR, Triage, and how to help assist in managing emergency situations that may happen within Mahaska County.
Discussion of future training events and other practice scenarios were presented to those in attendance.
Jamey Robinson said that the purpose of the meeting was to, “update and review information for the CERT team so they keep up to speed on what’s going on on the team outline and so they are again being refreshed on what they need to do during a disaster and how they would respond.”
It’s much like any other first responders, they continue to need to prove their ability to perform the tasks and be refreshed on updated information.
I asked CERT team member and team leader Jim Walker how many local residents are current in Mahaska Counties CERT team. “There are a total of 10 Adults from Jubilee (Family Church) and there are, at last count, 14 teens and 1 adult. Total of 25.” said Walker.
What types of training do you guys take, and are you able to retrain others in the community? “The training we have is 20 hours taught by Jamey (Robinson).” Walker said. “We have been trained to teach CPR & First Aid and AED but can not train Cert Teams Yet.” Walker said of some members current training levels.
I know that some of your team attends Jubilee Family Church, is it a requirement in order to be on the CERT team to attend your church or any other church? “you do not have to be a church member to be in CERT. If you are a resident of Mahaska county, you can apply to join. If Interested go to www.mahaskaready.com and fill out an application.” Walker said.
“The main part of being part of this team is the knowledge that we can go out and help those in need. It is the responsibility of each person to be prepared. This program teaches you how and then to help educate others.” Walker said of his desire for being a part of Mahaska County CERT team.
MAHASKA COUNTY C.E.R.T
A key part to the preparedness of Mahaska County belongs to its citizens. An involved community is a well prepared community. You, along with your families and friends, partnering with Mahaska County Emergency Management is the foundation of our homeland security and emergency management strategy.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area. It also trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
If you are interested in volunteering for CERT, or would like to help out in some way, contact Jamey Robinson at 641.672.1209 or visit www.mahaskaready.com
