Kerr County seeking Emergency Response Team Volunteers

Kerr County is seeking volunteers for its Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which is designed to prepare volunteer citizens to respond to their community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster when emergency services are not yet at hand.

According to Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Dub Thomas, “Our CERT folks are invaluable to all of us, because they are the ‘first boot’s on the ground helping our fellow Kerr County residents when a major disaster happens.”

The basic requirements for CERT unit candidates are that the person be 18 years or older with no criminal history and that they complete the CERT Basic Training class, which lasts 24 hours and is held over a single, 3-day weekend. The class will be held in October and topics include disaster preparedness, fire safety and utility controls, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism and more.

The CERT unit will meet monthly on the second Thursday of each month at the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.

Anyone interested can get an application by visiting www.co.kerr.tx.us/sheriff/cert, or by calling (830) 896-1216.