County Offers Emergency Response Team Training

Editor's Note: The following is a news release issued by the Mercer County administration.

Mercer County, along with Mercer County Community College, is sponsoring a course starting in February 2012 on personal emergency preparedness training that has been scheduled and is in the college’s Continuing Studies Noncredit Course catalog that is being mailed out to residents in Mercer County.

Community Emergency Response Team training is designed to teach people how to take care of themselves, their families and assist neighbors in a large scale disaster or emergency. The course begins on February 15, 2012 and consists of nine evenings of classroom instruction and finishes with a Saturday practical exercise.

Upon completion of the training, students will receive a CERT bag with basic safety equipment. Students will also have the ability to join their municipal based CERT program or just use the knowledge they have gained to be prepared for an emergency for themselves and their family. Tuition and supplies are provided through the State and County Homeland Security Grant programs.

“The safety of the citizens of Mercer County is dependant on the partnership between government, first responders and citizens themselves being as prepared as possible," explained County Executive Brian Hughes. “The CERT program has been extremely popular on a local level,” Hughes added, “so with the assistance of Mercer County Community College and our Homeland Security grants, we are able to offer this valuable training to more people countywide.”   

Residents can refer to the Mercer County Community College Continuing Studies Noncredit Course catalog for more specific information and to register for the class.

It is important to note that tuition and equipment costs are provided by the Homeland Security Grant programs. If one registers for the course on-line by Jan 31, 2012, the $10 registration fee is also waived. 

Assistance for registering on line can be obtained at any county library or the County Connection office in Hamilton.