The Office of Emergency Management and Fire Life & Safety held its largest spring Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training with 29 students, faculty, and staff, making it the largest CERT training at the University of Houston.

Since 2011, UH has offered CERT training in either the fall or in the spring, but OEM and FLS always aspired to have two classes yearly.

The aspirations became a reality, and OEM and FLS worked to develop more instructors to offer the second class following the 2023 fall CERT training.

“We had a lot of people reply after our fall class that they were interested in a spring class, so that’s what prompted us,” said Walker.

When the spring CERT registration was announced, over 50 people signed up — the largest number ever for CERT training at UH.

Walker attributes the large enrollment to general interest and significant promotion of the training, including tabling at different campus events, social media and promotion on Access UH. Both OEM and FLS have developed their social media presence over the past year and all combined appeared to work.

For seven weeks during the 2024 spring semester, participants took a three-hour course every Friday in preparation for the CERT exercise drill on the final, eighth, week of training.

While faculty and staff members have been heavily represented in past CERT trainings, this spring edition proved to be popular with students. They made up almost half of the spring class, with 13 students participating.

Walker noted that past CERT trainings have had one or two students.

“There were students from all over campus in the class. There are students who get into it because they can’t wait to get into action. And then other students that just want to get educated, and just want to learn more,” said Walker.

“And then there’s other students that want to make sure that if something happens, they can take care of themselves and their families.”

Helping the community was one of the primary reasons that senior Alejandra Reyna Cordon took the class.

Cordon found out about CERT through a banner on the Access UH website.

“I was just curious because it said Community Emergency Response Team, and because we went through the COVID pandemic, and Houston is always flooding, I felt like I needed to learn more,” said Cordon. “And when I read the description saying that I could help learn how to help my community, it really made me want to sign up.”

During the exercise drill, Cordon was part of the search and rescue team and felt comfortable in her role, thanks to the courses leading up to it.

“It helped me a lot on how to combat the situation,” said the Supply Chain and Logistics major. “When I went in there, it really reminded me of all the steps that we had to take, the victims, our supplies, and what they taught us.”

For senior McKinsey Sinclair, who was part of the medical team during the exercise drill, taking the CERT training was a no-brainer. She’s an aspiring healthcare provider and believes CERT makes her more well-rounded to respond to emergencies.

After taking the CERT training, does Sinclair feel better prepared to assist during emergencies?

“I would say I feel about 90 percent confident,” said Sinclair. “Whether that be a crisis, terrorist, biochemical disaster, or emergency weather situation. I feel more confident in my skill set and knowing how I could respond and assure those that were victimized by the situation.”

The Nutrition and Fitness Major, much like Cordon, said the exercise drill was her favorite part of the CERT training and alluded that she felt prepared for it thanks to the training.

Both students also agreed that every UH student should take the CERT training course.

“I feel like when the university offers free resources such as these, I think, why not take advantage of them,” said Sinclair.

Graduates of the CERT training receive a certificate and a backpack with basic emergency supplies to serve as an “Emergency Go-KitAre you interested in joining the next CERT training course? To learn more, email Maia Solomon at misolomon@uh.edu with questions or inquiries.