The City of Goleta, through its Goleta Prepare Now program, is offering free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to residents within the City of Goleta. The CERT training program prepares community members to take a more active role in emergency preparedness. CERT participants are trained to serve as part of neighborhood or workplace response teams in the event of a major disaster, when emergency services may not be available and when residents may have to rely on each other for life-saving and life-sustaining needs.
Participants in the CERT program will learn about disaster preparedness and response, basic fire safety, disaster psychology, first aid, and light search and rescue techniques.
CERT courses consist of a series of eight classes. Each course will conclude with a mock-disaster drill, which will test the participants’ knowledge and skills learned in the training. The CERT course is taught by fire fighters, first responders, and volunteers from Santa Barbara County.