CERT Graduation

Today I completed the last day of required training to become part of Stockton College’s first Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) team. So you may ask, what exactly is CERT. Well essentially the CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. This program was formed through a joint effort of the Stockton College Police Department and the Campus Health and Safety Officer. The required training for C.E.R.T involved 20 hours of hands-on classroom training. 18 CERT members out of the 22 that started graduated this Friday. They are Lydia Javins, John Davis, Kelee Gudzinas, Robert Fornuto, Pedro Santana, Josie Stalling, Sara Gendlek, Bill Shackleton, Paul Chambers, Dennis Lepore, James Merlock, Edward Carty, Robert Haviland, Dianne Hill, Terrence Hardee, Barbara Teel, John Smith and myself.