The Seton Hall University Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is offering a basic training course that teaches students and faculty what to do in an emergency.
The 20 hour course consists of four sessions that will be held on Nov. 14, Nov. 21, Nov. 25 and Dec. 4. The sessions begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m., with a one hour lunch break. The basic training consists of instruction on disaster preparedness, fire safety and utility controls, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism and CERT and a final disaster simulation. The course is offered to around 30 students and takes place each semester.
“The course is oriented towards a disaster situation in which there will be many more victims than responders, especially in the initial part of an emergency,” Thomas Giordano, assistant director for emergency management for Seton Hall’s Department of Public Safety and Security, said. “It is designed to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people. It’s something that people can use to protect themselves and others around them until first responders arrive and then once the official response arrives they can assist and help out.”
The idea for the CERT began in California in 1985 when the Los Angeles Fire Department began offering disaster preparedness training to citizens. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) adopted the concept in 1994 and made the program available nationwide. CERTs are located in many townships, organizations and universities all over the country.
“The course makes it possible for students to act as volunteers while they are here at the University,” Giordano said. “We have used our CERTs to help out with vaccine distribution and also help aid with Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.”
Giordano also said that the course teaches students to learn to act as team members. If something were to happen on campus, CERT would be able to band together and aid people until first responders arrived. After the 20 hours of instruction on disaster preparedness, students must pass a final exam and play the role of a responder in a disaster simulation to receive their CERT certificate. Over 300 people have been CERT certified at Seton Hall since the course started here in 2008.
“When students go out into the world, these are still skills that will be valuable to them and their families,” Giordano said.
According to Anglin Thevarajah, a sophomore who took the course last year, it is important for students to take advantage of the CERT basic training. Thevarajah was able to use her training to assist with a fire that broke out by her home this past summer. She put on her CERT uniform and was able to help bandage a victim of the fire who had severe bleeding.
“I brought bandages, so I applied them to the victim’s wounds and applied pressure to stop bleeding,” Thevarajah said. “Because I took the CERT course, I was able to properly assist the victim in this situation.”
She said that if you have a passion for helping others in an emergency and are eager to learn and complete the course, then the basic training should not be too difficult.
“This course has essentially helped me by teaching me to step out of my comfort zones, as well as social zones and reach out to people who I don’t even know,” Thevarajah said.
Ashley Turner can be reached at ashley.turner@student.shu.edu.
