EPC students complete CERT training

Sixteen students from East Poinsett County High School in Lepanto graduated CERT training Monday. (Tribune photo / Marissa Holiman)

The Tyronza chapter of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) now has 16 new members on the campus of East Poinsett County High School in Lepanto. The students graduated the training program and are part of the school's Campus Emergency Response Team.

Monday, April 6 the students demonstrated their new skills through a mock drill at the agriculture building. The dramatized emergency came complete with a fire truck, ambulance and police car.

CERT trainer David Wood said EPC is only the second school in the state to have students complete the program.

"This training teaches them how to deal with different types of emergencies," said Wood. "They learn how to be better prepared in case of emergencies, and they learn how to protect themselves and others."

Wood said the students learn how to safely turn off electricity, water and gas and how to avoid certain types of chemicals. They also develop and learn drills for emergencies varying from tornados, to earthquakes to fires.

"They learn how to stand back and look at a situation," Wood said. "Then they can figure out if they can safely handle the emergency without getting hurt or hurting someone else."

Students at EPC participate in a mock emergency Monday. (Tribune photo / Marissa Holiman)

The students began their training in January and are the first group to graduate from the program on campus. And, Wood said, their training is useful both on and off the school campus.

"They can take what they learn home with them," said Wood. "They can put safety drills together to use at home to protect themselves and their families in case of a fire, tornado or other emergency."

About CERT

The CERT program is a nationwide program that was implemented in Tyronza in 2003. Now the program has more than 40 participants county wide with approximately 25 of those residing in Tyronza.

Wood said the CERT team members are flexible and always looking for new ways to serve the community.

"We can help with crowd control, road blocks or anything else the community needs us to do," said Wood.

Wood said that because CERT training is taught the same way nationwide, teams can also travel to another county or state and offer assistance alongside other CERT teams.

In the end, though, Wood said the main objective of CERT is for "regular" people to be able to assist their own community in the event of an emergency.

"We have people in the community who are trained to help others," said Wood. "First responders can't always get their as quickly as they'd like. Our CERT volunteers can help with the emergency until first responders arrive."

CERT now has its own classroom and training areas behind the city hall in Tyronza, and they are always looking for more volunteers who want to be trained to participate in the program. Those who are interested can call Tyronza City Hall at 487-2168 or David Wood at 487-2048.