East Hartford Offers a Free CERT Community Emergency Response Team Training

East Hartford, CT — The Town of East Hartford is pleased to announce that it is currently accepting applications for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Basic Training Course.

*FILL OUT REGISTRATION FORM HERE*

Classes will be held every Wednesday evening starting on March 6, 2024 from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM and will continue for ten consecutive weeks, in the East Hartford Fire Department’s Training Room. Enrolled students will receive equipment and the opportunity to apply to join East Hartford CERT upon course completion. 

CERT is a program that educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that might impact their area and trains citizens on basic disaster response skills.  When a disaster such as a major hurricane strikes, emergency responder's are generally focused on the most critical emergencies. Therefore, it’s important for residents to have the ability to help themselves, their families and community around them leading up to and following a disaster.

Fortunately, these skills can be easily learned. Through classroom and hands-on instruction participants in the CERT training will learn about disaster preparedness and basic response related to fire safety, disaster medical operations and light search and rescue. This ten-week course will also cover disaster psychology, terrorism and the mission of the CERT organization. The course will culminate in a CERT drill, putting what participants have learned into practice.

Applicants will be contacted by the East Hartford Fire Department with next steps. Citizens needing further information should contact CERT Training Coordinator Damien Tyler (860) 929-9400.