Volunteers become CERT members upon completion of all class sessions taught by local emergency management and professional first responders. Each class is approximately 2 ½ hours and includes practical and team-building exercises.
The Dallas CERT training program includes the following sessions:
Unit 1- Disaster Preparedness and Intro to Emergency Management
Unit 2- Fire Safety
Unit 3- Disaster Medical Operations- Triage and Treating Life Threatening Injuries
Unit 4- Disaster Medical Operations- Assessment, Treatment and Hygiene
Unit 5-Light Search and Rescue
Unit 6- Team Organization
Unit 7- Disaster Psychology
Unit 8- Terrorism and CERT
Unit 9- Final Disaster Exercise
The final session includes a disaster simulation to give volunteers the ability to apply their newly acquired skills in a simulated environment. Upon graduation CERTs receive a backpack with start up supplies, a certificate of completion, and a Dallas CERT t-shirt.