This evening, the students and faculty completed the first two hours of a twenty-hour FEMA CERT training led by Jim Ingersoll. FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training prepares high school and college students to safely and effectively aid survivors of a disaster.

Tonight we registered for the program and received colored wrist bands, identifying us in six groups. We will be training and doing simulations in these groups for the remainder of the weekend. The first module involved assessing risk and responding properly in a variety of emergency situations. Ingersoll shared many stories of how students have made a difference in difficult situations such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

We look forward to three more full days of training, including lots of hands-on learning. Enjoy the pictures.