UAA employees complete disaster training

On July 23-25, more than a dozen UAA employees attended 20 hours of training preparing them to help save lives and property following a crisis. The 14 University faculty and staff members participated in a Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) training program held at the Diplomacy Building.

Designed primary to deliver important training to the University Police auxiliary volunteers, the Campus CERT class was also opened to other interested employees. Attendees learned about terrorism, light search and rescue, first aid, triage, disaster psychology, CERT organization and general emergency preparedness. During major emergencies, paid first responders are typically overwhelmed. CERT is taught nationally to help civilians prevent loss of life and property, following an emergency until uniformed professional responders are available to respond. Taught by University of Alaska Emergency Preparedness Coordinators Rick Forkel and Ron Swartz, the graduates are now qualified to serve on most CERT teams anywhere in America.

Attending the C-CERT training was William Cruz, Cedar Cussins, Georgia DeKeyser, Cathy Dunham, Denise Eggers, Bette Fenn, Karen Haddock, Mike Halco, Brenda Henderson, Jody Inman, Bob Maxwell, Glenna Schoening, Orson Smith, Carolyn Hanthorn and Pete Summers. The program director for McLaughlin Youth Center, Theron Powell, also completed the course.