Smaller jurisdictions like Skamania County are particularly prone to exceeding First Responder capabilities. This makes the ideas of CERT even more valuable when, not if, disaster strikes.

The CERT program is an important part of preparing communities to "help themselves" and "do the most good for the most people" until help is able to arrive.

Visit the CERT Home Page for much more general information.

Skamania County DEM has been setting up CERT classes in various communities as funding permits.

Carson Fire District #1 sponsored our first class series in January and February 2005.

The Underwood Community Center was home to the second series of classes, with citizens joining us from Mill A and Willard.

We recently conducted a CERT Table Top Exercise in the EOC in preparation for the Functional Exercise that was held on January 14th. This series of exercised focused on community notification operations, and brought CERT and EOC Staff volunteers together to work through various challenges.

We conducted CERT classes in North Bonneville during the March/April timeframe, and just completed a series in Stevenson on October 13th.

If you are interested in our CERT program, please contact John Carlson - 509/427-8076 (See schedule below).

Several series of CERT classes have been held throughout Skamania County

From classroom to hands-on, the CERT classes deliver good information to the community members who attended.

A final CERT "Disaster" gaves the students an opportunity to put their trainig to use.

CERT Supplies

The Safe-Light is a great preparedness gadget. On the lowest of 3 settings it is a dim nightlight, making it easy to find.

To find CERT Supplies online, just Google "CERT Supplies" (or use other search engines).

We hesitate to reccomend any particular company, but a couple of observations may be of value; The largest "CERT Pack" we are aware of is from www.preparesmart.com. As is always the case when buying online: Buyer Beware!