Sign up continues for next week's CERT training

Community members in Nevada or the surrounding area interested in becoming certified Community Emergency Response Team members can still sign up for the the free training that will begin Tuesday, April 10. New students will be accepted until the first day of class.

The CERT training is designed to educate people about disaster preparedness for the general and specific hazards that impact Vernon County and will give them some training in disaster response skills. According to the course syllabus the classes will cover a variety of topics and include hands on as well as classroom instruction. All classes will be held at the Vernon County Ambulance District office at 515 E. Walnut St. in Nevada.

The course is free and Tuesday's session will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The next class will be on Saturday, April 14, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. After the first Saturday, classes will be held each Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; until the final session, which will be a course review and simulated disaster scenario in which students can apply what they have learned during the course. That will be an all-day Saturday class held on May 5. There are also some online courses that must be completed by the end of the training period for students to be fully certified. They will be done in class if necessary.

For more information on getting into the training session or CERT, contact the Vernon County Ambulance District office at (417) 667-5079 or contact these course instructors. Call Mike Hueston at (620) 224-7034 or James McKenzie at (417) 667-1700 or at the VCAD office or Justin Hueston at (620) 224-6545. More information on CERT can be found at www.citizen

corps.gov/cert/faq.shtm.