By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — Seventeen people graduated from the community emergency response team course in Trussville this week.
Trussville Mayor Gene Melton handed out certificates to the graduates, who participated in nine courses since January. Graduates received dark green backpacks with “Community Emergency Response Team” and “Trussville” emblazoned on them. The backpacks were filled with a hard hat, duct tape, gloves, a search light and more.
The graduates were John Amari, Chris Barnett, Laura Barnett, Dennis Brown, Marie Gilreath, John Griscom, Janet Isom, James Isom, Micheal Mason, Cindy Massey, Claude Massey, Donna Ray, Frank Ray, Ed Scearce, Eddie Seal, Sharri Thompson and William Wills.
The course prepares citizens for hazards that may impact their area, and trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations. Using the training, members of the response team can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event in which professional responders are not immediately available to help. Team members are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.
Griscom, who took a similar course in 2005, said he participated in this one as a refresher and to learn new things.
“Everybody needs to know how to take care of themselves first and what to do in case of an emergency,” said Griscom, who is on the city’s Public Safety Committee.
Amari said he took two main thing away from graduating from the course: learning how to help those in need and saving first responders time by assessing a disaster situation.
“This kind of gives you that confidence where you feel like you can get out there and actually do something, do some good,” Amari said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.