Should a disaster strike their community, neighborhood or school, a group of Goffstown Area High School students will be more prepared to help, once they complete the Teen Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. TEEN CERT is a pilot program that mirrors the CERT program developed for adult citizens who want to be better prepared to respond to and cope with the aftermath of a disaster. Similar to CERT, TEEN CERT educates and trains participants in preparing for disasters that impact their area learning a range of disaster response skills, including fire suppression, light search and rescue, disaster medical operations and animal response. This CERT training requires that the students participate in a 20-hour training program to become certified by the NH Department of Safety. This training will benefit all students but especially those who are considering a career path in emergency services as well at the military. Colleges throughout the country also have Campus CERT Teams. This training can be carried over to these programs as well. This is a nationally known program and also looks great on college applications, especially when applying for college grants.
Guest speakers/trainers include Lt. Mark Lemay from the Goffstown Fire Department, Officer Ryan Buker from the Goffstown Police Department school resource officer, Dr. Matt Lewis a Goffstown Veterinarian as well as a Goffstown CERT member and Cheryl Paquette an EMT and also a Goffstown CERT member.
“I am very honored to be part of the first high school group to be trained in the state to go through the course knowing that these students could step up to this challenge. They will be ready to help themselves and others in case of an emergency,” said Susan Jutras director of the adult Goffstown CERT and a specialty trainer with the NH Department of Safety who coordinated this program.
Once fully trained the student will receive a CERT backpack complete with hard hat, safety vest, latex gloves, first aid kit, dust mask, flashlight, safety goggles, emergency blanket, and light stick which will be supplied by FEMA and Volunteer NH.
The four week training sessions will be offered on the following four Sundays from 11am to 4pm. Complementary lunches will be provided: March 11, 18, 25 and April 1, 2012. Registration will be open until February 19th. This is on a first come first serve training for the first 20 to register for teens between the ages of 14 and 17. For questions or to register for the FREE TEEN CERT training contact Susan Jutras through the Goffstown Police Department at (603) 497-4858 or e-mail goffstowncert@hotmail.com.
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