A dozen members of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s staff are now trained to respond to a local emergency, and they hope other members of the community follow suit.
During eight classes over two days, 12 employees in the Executive Office of the Mayor were trained in disaster preparedness, fire safety, emergency medical operations, disaster psychology, light search and rescue, and combating terrorism.
They are now better prepared to respond to an emergency situation in their community, they say, whether it is a terrorist attack or a hurricane, and to provide critical support for the first responders to the scene.
“This training will help us better recognize or identify what exact type of response we need to have to the situation and what to communicate to the mayor,” said Jewel Gorham, the Ward 7 community outreach coordinator, who was in her final day of classes Tuesday. “We’re his eyes and ears.”
They learned, for example, how to apply a bandage, how to stop or slow bleeding and how to maneuver through crowds to identify those in most need of medical attention. The training is provided by the fire, police and health departments.
“The mayor, he’s very serious about his staff being educated on this stuff,” Gorham said. “He expects us to be prepared for anything.”
More of the mayor’s staff are in line to take the courses, including 15 from the Office of Risk Management and another group from the Office of Community Relations and Services.
The Community Emergency Response Team training, provided through Serve DC, is available to any District resident at no cost.
To register for CERT training or for more information, call Shirley Hall at 202-727-8965, or e-mail [email protected].
