The Santa Barbara City Fire Department will be offering Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training beginning Tuesday, May 7.

Disasters can severely restrict and overwhelm emergency response resources, communications, transportation and utilities, and can leave individuals and entire neighborhoods cut off from outside emergency support.

The city is offering CERT courses to train people to take care of themselves and their neighbors following a disaster. The purpose of CERT training is to provide citizens with the basic skills required to handle their own needs and then to be able to respond to their neighbor’s needs in the aftermath of a disaster.

The CERT course will be conducted at Santa Barbara City Fire Station 1 at 121 W. Carrillo St. The classes will be held for eight consecutive Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. beginning Tuesday, May 7 and concluding Tuesday, June 25.

The course agenda includes disaster preparedness, fire safety and suppression, disaster medical operations-assessment and treatment, light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology and terrorism overview. The course will end with a disaster exercise where the class will utilize the skills they have learned in the program.

Men and women age 18 or older who are interested in becoming CERT trained should call the city’s Office of Emergency Services at 805.564.5711 or email Emergency Services manager Yolanda McGlinchey at ymcglinchey@santabarbaraca.gov. Click here to download the registration form and informational flier.

— Yolanda McGlinchey is the Emergency Services manager for the City of Santa Barbara.