THE NEED TO BE PREPARED
The damage caused by natural disasters and man-made events can affect every element of society and government. With training and learning to work as a team, you'll be able to do the greatest good for the greatest number of victims after a disaster.

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   ABOUT CERT
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of Long Beach is a training course designed to help you be prepared in the event of a community emergency or disaster. By participating in this essential program, you'll learn to protect yourself, your family, and your neighborhood.

The CERT concept was created in 1985 by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department. They realized that citizens could very likely be on their own in the early stages of a catastrophic disaster, possibly for as long as several days. CERT was designed to provide civilians with basic disaster survival and rescue skills.

Completing the CERT program empowers you with the knowledge and confidence to help your community be prepared and stay safe.

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   WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
The CERT program is 22 hours of classroom and hands-on training. You'll learn about safety and disaster-preparedness topics including:

• Introduction to disaster response and team organization
• First aid in disasters
• Fire suppression
• Light search and rescue
• Assembling and storing disaster supply kits

Once you finish the course, you'll know how to provide basic medical aid, search for victims and rescue them, and manage a disaster situation until emergency responders arrive. You'll also learn triage techniques used to assist emergency personnel in evacuating victims.

CERT also teaches you how to create a disaster readiness plan for your family, along with which tools and supplies to keep on hand.

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