The North San Luis Obispo County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) wants you to be prepared for not only heavy rains but any type of emergency.
A CERT flood response course is taking place this Saturday, Nov. 18, at the Paso Robles Public Safety Center for people who have already completed their basic training course or have training in emergency response.
"After the flood situations that we had in January and March of this year, all of a sudden the attendance in our CERT basic class went up," said John Spooner, North SLO County CERT Program Manager. "People became aware."
Attendees will learn things like how to safely respond to flooding, how to set up notification alerts, how to read weather trends, and how to sandbag your home.
Sponsored by FEMA and the Paso Robles City Fire Department, the CERT courses are taught by nurses and certified instructors, like Spooner.
North SLO County CERT offers two classes a year — one in the spring and a second in the fall for basic emergency response training.
“The material presented in all of the CERT classes, whether it's the basic training class or some of the supplemental training, is really vital for people to know and understand so they can properly prepare," Spooner said. "We've probably presented the CERT basic class to 400-500 people here in the city, and that's just a tiny fraction of the number of people who live here that really need to know.”
The 20-hour basic training course has already commenced for Fall 2023. The next in-person training course will be offered in Spring 2024 and can be found under upcoming events on the North County SLO CERT website.
To donate or for information on how to help, you can contact North SLO County CERT here.
