Teens will take part in TEEN CERT preparedness training

BELLEVILLE, Ill. - July 18, 2017 - PRLog -- St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency will hold TEEN CERT – Community Emergency Response Training – class and hands-on training over the two weekends of September 22 and 23 and September 29 and 30, 2017 at the Belleville First Assembly of God, located at 900 Fair Oaks Drive in Belleville.

Students range in age from 12 through adult are able to attend the free training to learn how to quickly react and respond to devastating emergencies in their immediate area. The event will mark the third year Belleville First will host the training though the Mid America TEEN CERT program.

"Although most students take the course to earn 20 hours of community service, some do express interest in a career in the emergency responder field once we are done with the class," according to St. Clair County CERT Coordinator, Dale Yonker.

Teens that complete the CERT training become an additional asset to the local communities in which they live in by being able to give basic medical treatment, shutdown utilities and extinguish small fires immediately following a disaster.

"Some teens extend their training by taking CPR/AED and First Aid classes which allows them to now not only help someone who is injured or in cardiac arrest, but to have a better understanding for the safety of the person who comes across an emergency and think carefully about scene safety," Yonker said.

Students will complete lecture and hands-on training leading up to a full-scale disaster scenario to test their newly-learned skills on the final day of the class.

Mid America TEEN CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), based in Wentzville, MO, has earned top honors as the No. 1 Emergency Preparedness Training Program and Outstanding Youth Training Program in in the Nation, for its dedication to the community by volunteering to train, educate, and promote preparedness.

For information about this class, contact Gwen Vicari at First Assembly of God, gwen.vicari@sbcglobal.net or call 618-580-6057.