
The basic CERT course is offered on Vashon in 3 parts. Each part is a pre-requisite for the next.
2023 dates: Saturdays, April 22 through June 17 (except May 27)
Location: main Vashon fire station. Both indoors or outdoors, depending on topic each day
Sign-up required; please email cert@vashonbeprepared.org
Cost: free; students provide a small amount of personal equipment (work gloves, mask, work clothes and gear for whatever weather we have on the outdoor days, safety glasses, your own lunch each day except a couple of them when it will be provided)
Course limited to 24 adults. We are unable to train youth under 18 years at this time.
Part 1: Household Preparedness & Safety
April 22 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
A packed 5-hour seminar covering self-sufficiency in a disaster, being well fed, safe and reasonably comfortable in a situation that could isolate our island and shut down most services for days or weeks. Also, natural gas, electrical and fire specialists will cover general household safety about those issues plus lots of disaster response options. Includes one hour lunch break, 11:30 - 12:30.
Part 2: 24 more hours of Fire/Chemical/Utility Safety, Search & Rescue, Advanced First Aid and Medical Triage
April 29, May 6, 13 and 20 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Learn light fire fighting, safely removing someone buried in debris or crushed by a car or similar, treating life-threatening injuries, splinting and other advanced first aid skills. Participants must wear long pants and "work clothes" for these trainings, and be prepared for whatever weather happens on the days we are outside. If you have physical limitations, special needs, or just plain sore knees, just let the instructor know and we'll gladly accommodate you.
This is NOT a CPR class. Vashon Fire will soon be offering CPR and other very basic first aid for the public!
Pre-requisite: The part 1 preparedness seminar
Part 3: How CERT-trained citizens work as a team...
June 3, 10, 17 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
...to accomplish life-saving and community service projects in disaster situations. We'll teach you how we work as a team and what the team would likely do on Vashon in earthquake and severe weather situations as well as searching for a missing person and supporting Covid testing and vaccinations. This includes how we organize ourselves, administration and logistics to support our activities, team accountability, communications and safety.
Part 3 is for people who want to consider joining the active Vashon CERT team. Additional training is offered beyond this course, and the minimum requirements to stay active are to attend 4 trainings per year after completing a five more one-time classes, each 3-4 hours, plus be the quintessential responsible and accountable person!
Pre-requisite: Parts 1 and 2 above.