21st Century FEMA Course Manuals - Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Instructor Guide (IG-317), Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Disaster Operations, Psychology, Terrorism (Ringbound)

This vital Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) training course manual is one of the series of influential FEMA documents providing crucial material on disasters and emergency response. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept was developed and implemented by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. LAFD decided that some basic training in disaster survival and rescue skills would improve the ability of citizens to survive until responders or other assistance could arrive. The training program that the LAFD initiated proved to be so beneficial that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) felt that the concept and the program should be made available to communities nationwide. In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards. In 2003, President Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country. The Citizen Corps program was created to spearheaded this effort to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds. CERT was selected as one of the primary programs offered to the American public to meet this challenge. Contents of this training manual include: Course Agenda * About the Course Materials * Instructor Responsibilities * Instructor Qualifications * Preparing To Train * Preparing the Classroom * Unit 1: Disaster Preparedness * Welcome and Introductions * Participant Introductions * Activity: Building a Tower * Introduction and Unit Overview * Recent Disasters and Emergencies * Course Preview * Disasters and Disaster Workers * Disaster Threats * Impact on the Infrastructure * Structural and Nonstructural Hazards * Hazard Mitigation * Home and Workplace Preparedness * Community Preparedness * Protection for Disaster Workers * Fire Safety * Introduction and Unit Overview * Fire Chemistry * Reducing Fire Hazards in the Home and Workplace * CERT Sizeup * Firefighting Resources * Fire Suppression Safety * Hazardous Materials * Exercise: Suppressing Small Fires * Unit Summary * Unit 3: Disaster Medical Operations Part 1 * Introduction and Unit Overview * Treating Life-Threatening Conditions * Triage * Disaster Medical Operations Part 2 * Introduction and Unit Overview * Public Health Considerations * Functions of Disaster Medical Operations * Establishing Treatment Areas * Conducting Head-to-Toe Assessments * Treating Burns * Wound Care * Treating Fractures, Sprains, and Strains * Splinting * Treating Hypothermia * Light Search and Rescue Operations * Search and Rescue Sizeup * Conducting Search * Conducting Rescue Operations * Additional Materials * CERT Organization * CERT Decisionmaking * Documentation * Tabletop Exercise * Disaster Psychology * Team Well-Being * Working with Survivors Trauma * Terrorism and CERT * What is Terrorism * Terrorist Targets * Terrorist Weapons * B-NICE Indicators * Preparing at Home and Work * CERTs and Terrorist Incidents * Activity: Applying CERT principles to a Suspected Terrorist Incident * Disaster Simulation * Exercise Critique Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) * If available, emergency services personnel are the best trained and equipped to handle emergencies, and you should use them. However, following a catastrophic disaster, you and the community may be on your own for a period of time because of the size of the area affected, lost communications, and unpassable roads. CERT Training is designed to prepare you to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster.