Holt High School to Graduate First TEEN CERT Class

Feb. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- Wentzville Holt High School will graduate the school district’s first high school TEEN CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class.  These adventurous students, parents, teachers and faculty will take the TEEN CERT course being provided to the Wentzville School District.

When taking TEEN CERT, the students are quick and eager to learn and enjoy the practical training.  Even more, these trained students know their campus and community better than most of the faculty and administrators.  Ask any student where to find something on campus; you have a very good chance of them knowing if it is available. The students know who should be around the different areas or wings.  They also know the “ins and outs” of the cafeteria, gymnasium, auditorium, storage locations, equipment lockers, etc.

Consider this:  It is 11:14 am and your children are in school, the safest place… you think.  One minute ago a tornado devastated a residential area, side swiping the local high school!  There was severe damage to more than half the school; unfortunately professional first responders are unable to gain access to the damaged areas.

Providing TEEN CERT training has proven to be an important program in educating our youth and adult citizens on how to care for themselves and their neighbors.  If the adults are at work or injured during a disaster, who will take care of their children?  With an average of 25-40 students per class, this provides an unmanageable ratio. Would your children know what to do in a disaster situation?  Could they safely take care of themselves?  How would they handle a crisis, much less a major disaster?

After learning proper techniques, students are amazed with their abilities and newly found skills.  They are able to perform tasks they did not believe they could.  The teenagers have an eye-opening experience as they crawl through a dark closet and classroom searching for their fallen peers. They experience firsthand satisfaction as they rescue their injured classmates and bring them safely to the treatment area.

Students learn many valuable skills and resources to aid themselves and others in the event of a disaster. The Incident Command scenario is an excellent way to learn organizing skills and leadership. The teenage students are eager to learn lifesaving skills that will be essential as they venture into the world.

The specialized course, taught through the Mid America TEEN CERT program, is tailored to provide a smooth transition into the normal school schedule meanwhile maintaining the nine (9) units throughout the 24-hour training.  The class culminates with a real-time, life-like simulated disaster exercise that will showcase the newly learned emergency skills of the students.

The program, including the live fire exercise and extensive student search, will be held at the high school so the students experience the reality in their most probable environment. The post disaster “hot wash” portion of the training teaches the students what is normal, expected, and abnormal.  Most importantly, they will learn how to manage stress, assist with peers and people with special and functional physical needs, and recognize signs and symptoms of disaster-related psychological actions.

The students from the drama class are providing a life-like scenario for the triage and treatment layout portion of the medical operations training and the moulage (disaster makeup) will bring the scene to life.

While Holt was the first to initiate TEEN CERT into their district, other school districts around the area are requesting the training in their schools.  The TEEN CERT program is been requested as a permanent part of the curriculum, and the education department is currently reviewing cost and resource impacts.

TEEN CERT students work hard and their eagerness to become valuable, needed resources within their community will not only benefit during school-related emergencies, but also if disaster strikes surrounding communities.

For more information, please contact Emily Rosenblum, FEMA Region VII Youth Preparedness Council Representative.