Yesterday, we had over 35 attendees at the CERT skills refresher course. Thanks to David Steele & Kristen Wear for teaching the class. Participants brushed up on RPM, head-to-toe assessments and other essential CERT related skills. It was a busy 3 hours of training, and everyone received certificates at the end, including 5 new CERT members that completed their CERT basic training by attending the training session.   Special guests at today’s CERT REFRESHER: Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Deputy Surgeon General of the United States, David Steele MC CERT Training Coordinator, Commander Elizabeth DeGrange, Response and Deployment Coordinator US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dan Hennessey, Trainer- MC CERT and US DHHS-OASH, Greg St. James MC CERT Program Manager, Commander Robert Horsch, Preparedness and Field Exercises Coordinator- US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.    

Marcie Roth was able to visit Montgomery CERT and the October General Membership Meeting to present the topic of CERT and the disability population. To view this, please click the link below.   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ea8XBYYLgHv-T3NUL6CpO2a0tvInpOtX/view?usp=sharing  

Montgomery CERT provides public safety information and assists the Glen Echo Fire Department with demonstrations at GEFD\’s annual open house. CERT Members from L-R (Kevin Barth, ian Golub, Robert Lule, Liljana Stevceva, Rochelle Weisberger, Brett Wernick, and Toly Yarup)    

October is here bringing changing colors, falling leaves, and lots of CERT activities. We continue Friends and family CPR classes, GoTeam drills and planning, general meeting presentations, 800 MHz radio training, and outreach events. As I look at the list of volunteers and events, I am reminded that as in most volunteer groups a same percentage of folks do a large percentage of the work. I am deeply grateful to our dedicated volunteers who come through over and over for us… without them there would be no CERT program. But this leads me to pose a challenge to those who have not stepped up: why not? The number one reason people offer is a lack of time. We are all busy of course. Still, I\’ll point out that the commitment of time is entirely up to you: Why not step up and engage for anything from a couple of hours at an outreach table, to spending a few days in Emmitsburg becoming a CERT instructor. This is a \”cafeteria\” style program, where you only put as much on your plate as you desire. Please remember the future and success of this program is in the hands of those who choose to serve and engage, far more than in mine or anyone on the county staff.  Step forward, step up, and let\’s step into fall together. Oh, and Happy Halloween! Greg Greg St. James Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.)  Program Manager Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service 100 Edison Park Drive Gaithersburg,  MD 20878 From Left to Right: Lisa Orcutt, Thomas Espina, Theresa Gilcrist, David Contois, Kevin Barth. MC CERT provides first aid and preparedness info at the Silver Spring YMCA playground construction event.

Somehow, September is here again, and the lazy days of summer have slipped away once again as we rush head-first into fall. At Montgomery County CERT, we have opened up registration opportunities for a full slate of fall preparedness activities. There are five friends and family CPR/AED classes now open, with the first one scheduled for September 13th (there is a general meeting the same night). CERT Basic #2018-05 begins November 7th with a Wednesday/Saturday rotation and ends on December 15th (we will be off the week of November 19th-25th for the Thanksgiving holiday). This fall you will also see a CERT refresher course on November 3rd for anyone who has ever taken a CERT Basic class and wants to refresh rusty skills as well as anyone who needs a make up class for their FEMA certificate. Registration will open the first week of September. We have some great speakers lined up this fall beginning with our September general meeting on September 13th, which will feature a presentation on communicating with hearing impaired persons in a disaster. Our GoTeam continues to serve the community by kicking off the fall season at the annual Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade. We have been helping the City of Gaithersburg with this event for several years now. Look for more GoTeam training and deployment opportunities in the near future. As always, I remain proud of our great family of volunteers and I hope each of you has a safe and golden September.   Greg St. James   Chris Frechette giving last-minute instructions to CERT Basic #2018-04 students before the final practical. CERT President Carl Brill as CDO, and Amy Hixenbaugh as his deputy supporting the GoTeam at the City of Gaithersburg Labor Day Parade.