Andrew Maul (under the N in Santa) and Yesenia Limon (wearing blue shoes, center) with CERT training crew
UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School’s Student Affairs Assistant Yesenia Limon and Department of Education Assistant Professor Andrew Maul participated in a campus-wide Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. The three-day program is designed to train citizens and employees so they are better prepared in case of an emergency. Among the courses taught at the training were fire suppression, basic first aid, and safe search and rescue skills. The training culminated in a mock emergency drill, where participants practiced their newly acquired skills.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages CERT programs around the country to assist emergency response teams in the event of an emergency, such as a natural disaster or a homeland security threat. In these situations, medical, fire, and law enforcement staff response is often significantly delayed, and having the help of citizen volunteers is extremely valuable. However, unprepared volunteers often put themselves in danger if they are not prepared. “CERT classes not only allow you to have the skills to save a life but also allow you to not put yourself in danger,” Limon explains. “We learned that in an emergency the most important person is yourself.”
The CERT class is far from a basic first aid or CPR course. Instead, the goal is the save as many people as possible in a large scale disaster before help arrives. At the training, Limon and Maul learned how to wrap wounds and splint injuries, how to carry victims and free people from rubble, the correct protocol in a terrorist attack, and more. For Limon, the most exciting part of the training was the earthquake drill at the end. “We had to split up in groups and really work with one another and have really strong communication,” Limon says. “We were able to use everything we had learned in those few days.”
As the representative of the Gevirtz School, Limon is responsible for assisting the occupants of the building in case of an emergency. Limon is grateful that she took the class, and feels empowered by all the knowledge she has gained. “It definitely opened my eyes to the kinds of things that would happen,” she states. “I feel like every single person should take this class. If everyone knew these first response skills, a lot more lives would be saved.”
For more information about CERT, visit the Citizen Corps CERT Web site, or contact Jim Caesar, the UC Santa Barbara Campus Emergency Manager at james.caesar@ehs.ucsb.edu or (805) 450-1437.