"Our Mission: We, the El Dorado Hills Fire Department, exist to serve and protect the Community through emergency management."

CERT Training

CERT2Are you prepared for large scale emergencies? Are you equipped to help your community when disaster strikes? Get CERT trained and get ready to respond.

EDHFire CERT offers an opportunity to complete Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. Participants will complete the full 24 hours of CERT training compiled of both didactic and hands-on instruction. Class enrollment is FREE and all are encouraged to apply. You must be 18 years of age or older to enroll. In 2021, we hope to introduce a TeenCERT program so please continue to check for updates.

Participants will be required to take the entire 24-hour curriculum and will receive a certificate of completion.

 

 

Level III Class Schedule

Dates/Times - SPRING 2020

Due to current public health emergency conditions associated with the COVID-19 virus, the CERT Level III training course has been CANCELLED and will be rescheduled at a later date.

It is anticipated that this course may be made available later in the Spring should conditions allow. Please continue to check back for additional information on new course dates. Be safe!

Location & Registration

Location: TBD
Register: online registration form

 

CERT6Level III Course Overview

The CERT Basic Course is delivered in the community by a team of first responders, and other qualified volunteers. The organization and timing of training and meeting varies from program to program. It is often broken up into two to four hour blocks over a series of evenings or weekends.

  • Disaster Preparedness: Addresses hazards specific to the community. Materials cover actions that participants and their families take before, during and after a disaster as well as an overview of CERT and local laws governing volunteers.
  • Fire Suppression: Covers fire chemistry, hazardous materials, fire hazards and fire suppression strategies. However, the thrust of this session is the safe use of fire extinguishers, controlling utilities and extinguishing a small fire.
  • Medical Operations Part I: Participants practice diagnosing and treating airway obstruction, bleeding and shock by using simple triage and rapid treatment techniques.
  • Medical Operations Part II: Covers evaluating patients by doing a head to toe assessment, establishing a medical treatment area and performing basic first aid.
  • Light Search and Rescue Operations: Participants learn about search and rescue planning, size-up, search techniques, rescue techniques and rescuer safety.
  • Psychology and Team Organization: Covers signs and symptoms that might be experienced by the disaster victim and workers, and addresses CERT organization and management.
  • Course Review and Disaster Simulation: Participants review and practice the skills that they have learned during the previous six sessions in a disaster activity.

During each session participants are required to bring safety equipment (gloves, goggles, mask) and disaster supplies (bandages, flashlight, dressings) which will be used during the session. By doing this for each session, participants are building a disaster response kit of items that they will need during a disaster.

 

Resources & Materials

In our commitment and effort to promote and encourage sustainable policies and practices, all CERT materials can be easily downloaded and printed or viewed online.

CERT Participant Manuals

CERT Core Curriculum Class Presentations

CERT Train-the-Trainer

  • Participant Guide
  • Powerpoint Slides

Continuing Education

FEMA IS-317: Introduction to CERT

"Introduction to Community Emergency Response Teams," IS-317, is an independent study course that serves as an introduction to CERT for those wanting to complete training or as a refresher for current team members. It takes between six and eight hours to complete the course. Those who successfully finish it will receive a certificate of completion.

IS-317 can be taken by anyone interested in CERT. However, to become a CERT volunteer, one must complete the classroom training offered by a local government agency such as the emergency management agency, fire or police department.