Community Emergency Response Team is a national initiative to get more people involved in helping to keep their communities safe. Eden Prairie received a grant in 2003 and kicked off our initial CERT program by training two classes of citizens in the CERT curriculum. We now have a total of 36 CERT members. Our long-term goal is 100 members.
CERT has three main objectives. First to teach individual members how to effectively evaluate whether or not a given situation is a true emergency needing immediate response from Fire or Police. This knowledge can be especially helpful in the event of a widespread disaster that taxes Fire and Police resources. Keeping requests for immediate response to situations that truly require it can help improve emergency response.
The second objective of the CERT program is to have trained members in the community that can help assess whether or not other people in their neighborhoods or apartment complexes are in need of immediate help. CERT members are trained in basic life safety procedures and can render assistance to those in need.
The third and final objective of the CERT program is to have trained citizens that can assist Police and Fire staff in managing longer-term disasters. CERT members achieve this objective by gaining an understanding of our processes and then being able to work productively within the scope of our operations assisting incoming agencies, helping coordinate volunteer labor and managing donated goods, to name just a few functions.
One of our CERT members Mohamed Osman Duale put his training into action this weekend. The fire alarm sounded in his building and as he was exiting the building a neighbor ran towards him and told him that her apartment had a fire in it. Mohamed immediately went about the task of evacuating the entire building. When Assistant Fire Chief, Scott Taylor arrived Mohamed gave him the location of the fire and informed him that residents had been notified and evacuated. Having performed those tasks Mohamed saved the fire department a lot of time and allowed our operations to focus on getting the fire out. While the fire turned out to be rather small, the assistance Mohamed provided was BIG. Mohamed was also able to provide assistance with interviewing the resident, since English was not her native language.
Thank you, Mohamed for a job well done. If you would like to become a member of our CERT program you can email Mark Krueger our Volunteer Coordinator by clicking on his name.
