Lyndhurst CERT
Community Emergency Response Team

What Is CERT?
Local government prepares for everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation.
CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to:

• Manage utilities and put out small fires,
• Treat the three medical killers by opening airways,
• Controlling bleeding, and treating for shock,
• Provide basic medical aid,
• Search for and rescue victims safely,
• Organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective,
• And collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.

If available, emergency personnel are the best trained and equipped to handle emergencies and you should use them. However, following a catastrophic disaster, you and the community may be on your own for a period of time because of the size of the area affected, lost communications, and impassable roads.

CERT training is designed to prepare you to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Because emergency services personnel will not be able to help everyone immediately, you can make a difference by using this training to save lives and protect property.

This training covers basic skills that are important to know in a disaster when emergency services are not available. You will want to help. With training and practice and by working as a team, you will be able to do the greatest good for the greatest number after the disaster, while protecting yourself from becoming a victim.

For more information on CERT and training, contact the community-policing bureau @ 201-939-9101.