The Homeland Security program called Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is provided to the citizens of OrangeCounty at no cost. It is coordinated through the Orange County Office of Emergency Management's Citizen Corps Council. CERT grant funding comes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency from Homeland Security and the program's training compliance is directed by the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Emergency response organizations understand that following a major disaster there may not be enough resources or agency capabilities to respond to every emergency call up to 72 hours. Responders must prioritize the use of their response resources. Accepting this challenge, agencies appreciate that CERT empowers family members, neighbors, and the community to care for themselves until additional help becomes available. CERT connects the professional response community with the people they serve. The training emphasizes mitigation, preparedness activities and response skills for the hazards that the community may face. CERT training covers the following topics:
Session I: Disaster Preparedness: Addresses hazards to which people are vulnerable in their community;(Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Hazardous Materials, Wild Fires, Terrorism)
Session II: Fire Suppression: Briefly covers basic fire chemistry, hazardous materials, and fire suppression; with an emphasis on:(Safe use of a fire extinguisher on a small fire, Situation size up, and Utilities control)
Session III: Disaster medical operations, triage and treating life-threatening injuries Using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques participants practice:(Diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding, and shock)
Session IV: Disaster medical operations, assessment, treatment, and hygiene Covers Evaluating Patients by doing:(Head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area, performing basic first aid, and practicing in a safe and sanitary manner)
Session V: Light search and rescueParticipants learn about:(Search and rescue planning, size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques, and most importantly, RESCUER SAFETY)
Session VI: Team organization and disaster psychology. Addresses CERT organization and management principles and the need for documentation. Covers signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and worker.
Session VII: Terrorism and Cerrit In this section participants will: (Apply CERT principles to a suspected terrorism scenario, define terrorism using FBI definitions, identify terrorism targets in your community, define the terms Biological, Nuclear, Incendiary, Chemical, and Explosive B-NICE, and Identify actions to take following a suspected terrorism event.)
CERT course participants are issued the following equipment: One back pack containing reflective hard hat, protective eye wear, reflective vest, leather work gloves, flashlight, "light sticks", signal whistle, first aid kit, 4 in 1 tool.
Another training program that is similar to our CERT program with a Continuity of Operations Plan added for businesses is called theBusiness Emergency Response Team (BERT). This training has been developed to assist office employees to assist each other in the event of a emergency or a disastrous event until the arrival of first responders.
This course is taught as the CERT Program and tailored to meet the specific needs of the business facility. The BERT training covers the same CERT topics emphasizing how those topics apply to continuing a business.
All personnel taking the BERT course are issued the following equipment: Hard hat, protective eye wear, reflective vest, leather work gloves, flashlight, "light sticks", signal whistle, first aid kit to include (2 triangle bandages, 1 cling wrap, 1 4x4 sterile gauze pads), 4 in 1 tool and backpack. Each team will also be issued a copy of Orange County Field Operations Guide and Standard Operating Procedures.
Citizen Corps 
