Beams of light scanned a dark room as voices in the distance cried out for help. An 8.0 earthquake had just struck Temple City, leaving behind trails of destruction and injured people at the City Council Chambers. Even though the scenario was a simulation, the newly trained CERT members were ready to save the day.
On Jan. 8-10, Temple City Youth Committee partnered up with CERT, the Community Emergency Response Team, to hold a three day training workshop for the youth of our community for the first time.
The program educates and trains students to provide efficient care and assistance to people during the first 72 hours following a disaster, and includes lessons on Emergency Preparedness, Fire Safety, Emergency Medical Operations, Light Search & Rescue, Disaster Psychology, Terrorism and Disaster Simulation.
“The CERT program is beneficial because people can learn the skills necessary to deal with disasters,” Senior Patrick Yeh said. “The difference between CERT training and First Aid training is that CERT training teaches you how to deal with large groups of people rather than individuals.”
To become part of the CERT program, participants had to be between 13-17 years of age and needed to attend all three days of training. The program was based on a first come first serve basis due to the limited size of the class, but all who signed up were able to attend.
“The goal of CERT is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the shortest time possible,” Sophomore Andy Tao said. “I was most looking forward to learning about saving people.”
After the three day program, participants all received a certificate of completion and over 20 community service hours. Based on their hands on experience and training, CERT members are now able to assist others in their community and workplace immediately after an emergency when no emergency personnel are available to facilitate.
“The Temple City CERT Team really did a great job planning this with Youth Committee,” Yeh said. “It’s a wonderful program and we really need to let it grow.”