New Page 2

	C.E.R.T. Conference at EMI Sam Isenberger, FEMA's Emergency Management Institute On August 31st, a great group of folks from around the country gathered at FEMA's Emergency Management Institute to talk about emergency response training for civilians. During this Community Emergency Response Team conference in Emmitsburg, Maryland, presenters shared their successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
Discussions included: civilians responding to the Northridge earthquake, making effective classroom presentation, developing newsletters, conducting focus groups, creating public/private partnerships, maintaining teams, conducting final exercises, and applying moulage. Another benefit of this conference was hearing how quickly the concept of training community members to prepare for and respond to hazards is growing. From its beginning in Los Angeles and Sunnyvale, today, tens of thousands of people have gone through training and are better prepare to care for themselves, their families and neighbors. Presenters and participants, alike, expressed the belief that they were making a difference in their community's readiness.
	Another strong feeling that came across was that those involved in training received as much from the participants as they gave. Community members attending their local training programs expressed appreciation to the instructors and agencies for taking the time and caring enough to help them help themselves. One gets the sense that the sponsoring agencies not only have trained a community member but also made a friend.
During the conference, a couple of initiatives were discussed. One was the "Connection" which you are reading. This is a great vehicle to share information and reach a wide audience. Another was facilitating the networking among CERT programs. To do this, we have started a "CERT Directory by State" on the FEMA website at http://www.fema.gov/emi/cert/. Agencies that sponsor emergency response training for community and business members are asked to list information about their program. Until our next conference, I encourage people to look around and see what civilian training programs are near them. Give each other a call and take some time to hold your own gathering. It is a great way to share ideas, look for solutions and get energized.

Return to *THE CONNECTION*

Ideas for Future Articles Comments Preparedness Survey
Click on the mail box to e-mail The Connection Editor