The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program provides an opportunity for communities to become more self-reliant during disasters that may affect them. The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT participants for this course are required to participate in a number of physical outdoor activities and work as team members/leaders.
The programme is facilitated by Ms. Sarah Lionel and Ms. Velda Octave-Joseph of CDEMA in collaboration with the Civil Protection Department. Partners such as the Haiti Red Cross and the Fire Department have committed to supporting the training by facilitating specific areas throughout the week.
Joseph Antonio Guillaume, Mayor of Cabaret declared the session open and urged participants to acquire as much information as possible so that this can be replicated. The Mayor expressed appreciation to the team for their support of his town.
The CERT training culminates on Friday with an exercise which puts to practice the different skills sets that the participants learn during the week.
The training is being conducted under the European Union funded Disaster Risk Management Sub-regional Programme which aims to enhance community resilience in CDEMA Participating States.