During Safety and Security Week the Somebody Cares organization took part in their fourth week of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training hosted by the Harris County Citizen Corps. The fourth week of the eight week program taught them about Emergency Medical Operations.

Somebody Cares has an extensive network that they have been able to mobilize after such storms as Katrina, Rita, and Ike. They recognize that the need is great and the time to prepare is before the need arises, so they have trained volunteers in the past (over 40 volunteers trained last summer) and will continue to train volunteers through their disaster relief program for churches. As part of their training and in their manual, they recommend that volunteers seek additional training such as CERT.

“With Ike’s devastation still so fresh on everyone’s mind, we are experiencing an increase in interest from people that desire to participate in training,” said Mark Sloan. “Current students in our class feel we are giving them more insight and greater ability to respond to disasters.”

You can gain further information about Somebody Cares disaster relief program by visiting their website. For more information on joining a CERT Team in your area or to volunteer with any of the Citizen Corps programs in Harris County, Texas go to www.harriscountycitizenscorps.org or www.somebodycares.org