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UH 1st Campus Emergency Response Team (CERT)
Training Completed
Members of the campus community have completed the first ever
Campus Emergency Response Team (CERT) course on the University
of Houston campus. The University of Houston, after completing
this course, became the third university in Texas to gain
certification. Individuals representing the campus and a few
individuals from off campus met for four weeks seeking
certification as CERT members. UH has 15 members forming the 1st
campus community response team ready to support the university.
The training gives citizens the opportunity to obtain skills to
assist with emergency situations either on or off campus. Below
is a brief overview of the fundamentals that the CERT members
received during training to support the campus:
The Fundamentals of Emergency Management Training Curriculum
include:
Disasters
This unit addresses a variety of disaster situations that might
threaten our community. In addition, each participant learns
what they can do to mitigate the effects of disasters and learn
more about personal safety and secondary hazards which present
themselves when emergencies or disasters occur.
Basic Fire Suppression
This unit addresses the basic use of fire extinguishers,
personal safety, fire prevention for the home and workplace and
an overview of the Fire Department and its resources.
In addition, this unit provides an orientation to hazardous
materials. This basic knowledge enables the CERT team members to
recognize and identify a hazardous material threat and how to
properly notify authorities.
Disaster Medical
Part I of Disaster Medical Operations includes an introduction
to disaster medical situations. It includes recognizing and
treating life-threatening conditions, triage, and practical
applications for disaster.
Part II of Disaster Medical Operations concentrates on the
organization of disaster medical operations. Participants learn
how to conduct head-to-toe patient assessments and also
establish treatment areas. CERT members also learn public health
considerations and apply their newly learned disaster medical
knowledge and skills in a practical scenario.
Light Search and Rescue
This unit includes aspects of search and rescue planning,
size-up, and operations.
Team Organization and Psychology
The CERT program includes the spontaneous organization of CERT
and disaster decision-making. Members learn about disaster
psychology and how these traumatic events can affect victims and
rescuers including CERT members. In conclusion, this unit
addresses CERT and its relationship to the incident management
system.
Terrorism
This unit is a basic overview on terrorism.
Graduation and Exercise
The hands-on "disaster" exercise puts newly learned CERT skills
to the test. Certification from the Harris County Office of
Emergency Management and the National CERT Program are earned by
the UH members.
For more information on the Campus Emergency Response Team
please visit us at:
www.uh.edu/emergency or contact Kelly Boysen,
Emergency Management Specialist at
krboysen@central.uh.edu
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