Junior CERT Training and Emergency Guide

The East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness recently initiated a program that provides basic emergency preparedness training for children ages 6 to 12 as well as children with disabilities. As of July 2007, the Junior Community Emergency Response Team (Junior CERT) Training program has educated over 500 children in the Baton Rouge area.

The program was designed with influence from the Citizen Corps derived volunteer initiative, CERT. The Junior CERT Training Program targets children from the Baton Rouge area to encourage them to be prepared for various disasters and emergencies, as well as encouraging them to become volunteers in our office in the future.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness established a teaching partnership with agencies such as, the Baton Rouge Police Department and Brownsfield Fire Station to implement this program. These agencies eagerly agreed to participate in this new program, which helped to influence the interest of the children, and allowed the agency to disseminate beneficial information for the children and their parents.

Junior CERT Curriculum

Disaster Medical Operations

The Emergency Medical portion of the training is tasked with teaching the participants how to handle minor first aid emergencies such as, nose bleeds, sprung limbs, and minor cuts and burns.

Emergency Management

The Emergency Management aspect of the training provides the trainees with information about how to shelter-in-place, prepare for various disasters including weather emergencies, and the functions of the Emergency Operations Center during various incidents.

Fire Safety

This portion of the training allowed the Brownsfield Fire Station to deliver important information about how to handle fire related emergencies as well as basic fire safety.

Police

The Baton Rouge Police Department has the role of extending information that concerns safety around the neighborhood (i.e. talking to strangers, walking streets alone at night, opening doors for unknown people).

The purpose of the Junior CERT Training Program is to educate children, but also give them the opportunity to educate their parents with the information that is given to them during the training. As we educate young people about emergency preparedness it is important that adults recognize its importance as well. The knowledge about emergency preparedness is passed to the parents once the children complete their training, because they are excited about their new knowledge and are ready to share it. Using the Junior CERT Training Program as a tactic to educate children and adults about the level of importance in regards to emergency preparedness, proves that the city of Baton Rouge is continuing to strive to create a safe environment for its citizens.

If you are interested in the Junior CERT Program or would like more information please contact the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness at (225) 389-2100 or e-mail us at oep@brgov.com