Are you prepared for emergencies?

Carol Huss

Special to the Village News

It is vital and comforting for all of us to be prepared for emergencies and know how to respond to that emergency, whether it’s a medical accident or local disaster. In the early stages of a catastrophic disaster, citizens will likely be on their own, so being self-sufficient and able to assist others is achieved through learning some training in basic first aid and disaster preparedness.

In 1994, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided a basic training program for us called the Community Emergency Response Team, also known as CERT, administered by local fire departments across the nation. Locally, Fallbrook has embraced this program to help our community by passing along training survival and rescue skills to individuals to improve our abilities to survive and safely help others until responders or other assistance arrives.

You are invited to attend and learn any, or all of these free basic skills, in 2-hour sessions, 6-8 p.m., every Tuesday at the Health & Wellness Center, 1636 E. Mission Road on the following dates.

Aug. 1 UNIT 1 Disaster Preparedness

Aug. 8 UNIT 2 Fire Safety & Utility Control

Aug. 15 UNIT 3 Disaster Medical Part 1 (First Aid)

Aug. 22 UNIT 4 Disaster Medical Part 2 (First Aid

Aug. 29 UNIT 5 Light Search and Rescue

Sept. 5 UNIT 6 CERT Organization

Sept. 12 UNIT 7 Disaster Psychology

Sept. 19 Terrorism & CERT

Sept. 23 This is a Saturday Final drill to practice what you have learned.

If you would like to take any or all of these CERT classes, contact Marcia Stuart at 760-815-4556.

For more information on CERT, visit https://northcountycert.com/.