ARE YOU READY?

by Ronnie Warren, Director, Oklahoma City Office of Emergency Management
Spring 2006

This is a question that emergency managers are asking their citizens everyday. When it comes to disaster preparedness, the responsibility begins with the citizen. Don’t depend on your local first responders to get to you in record time. As first responders are responding to the most heavily damaged area, those less affected could be waiting for long periods of time. Why wait when you, a “citizen responder,” could be helping out in your neighborhood, or even volunteering on a citizen’s response team?
One of the best training programs for citizens is the United States Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corps Program, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). Most emergency managers who are active in community response programs and education offer this training. This training teaches you how to conduct search and rescue, first aid, triage, and many other useful skills needed during a disaster. For more information go to http://www.citizencorps.gov/programs/cert.shtm and contact your local emergency manager.