A car accident, a house fire, the looming severe weather season's threat of twisters and tornadoes; disasters, big and small, can strike at any time.
"I wanted to take care of myself, my family, my neighbors and then the community if there was a big disaster," said Curt Robinson, a volunteer with Wyandotte County's Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT.
That's why he joined the group. Chiquita Miller and Robinson have volunteered alongside one another for the last decade.
"I really, really enjoy giving and being a part of the service, and since I no longer wear the uniform anymore, this is a way to give back to my community," said Miller, a retired service member.
The CERT course gives the average person tools to prepare themselves and their communities during life and death situations before emergency personnel gets there or in the case they are overwhelmed and may not be able to respond right away.
"The community needs to be able to help themselves," said Matt May, the director of Wyandotte County Emergency Management. "We know we do not have enough responders to touch every single person who gets impacted by large scale disaster; even a relatively small one will overwhelm out abilities."
Emergency management reports that in 95 percent of all emergencies, victims or bystanders provide the first immediate assistance on the scene before help arrives. CERT wants to make sure everyone is 100 percent prepared.
"If we had five or 10 people in every community that was trained in CERT or had this information in a disaster, we are going to be that much more prepared," said Miller.
There are still openings in Wyandotte County's CERT course. It meets Thursday's from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Emergency Operations Center in the basement of KCK City Hall. Participants should be at least 18 years old; however, 16- and 17-year-olds may join with parent attendance.
To sign up, contact Mike Baughman at 913-573-6300 or MBaughman@wycokck.org.
Click here to find other CERT courses near you.
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Terra Hall can be reached at terra.hall@kshb.com.
You can also follow her on Twitter.
