From the Mad River Union, May 19, 2019:

Humboldt County has graduated 18 new CERT instructors!

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers undergo at least 23 hours of emergency response training.

These volunteers are your neighbors who are prepared to assist their communities until first responders can arrive after a major emergency event, such as an earthquake or wildfire.

Up until this week, the number of local basic CERT classes being offered was limited not by a lack of demand (there are currently over 200 people on the waiting list for CERT training classes) but by the small number of available qualified instructors.

But that is about to change.

After three days of rigorous training a few weekends ago, 18 Humboldt and Del Norte CERT members have completed CERT’s Train the Trainer course and have now become fully qualified CERT instructors.

Participants came from CERT teams throughout the area, including Arcata, Blue Lake, Blue Lake Rancheria, Humboldt Bay Fire, Humboldt County DHHS, McKinleyville, Hoopa Fire, Tolowa Dee-Ni’ Nation, Bridgeville Community Center, and southern Humboldt.

The intensive three-day course was coordinated by Linda Nellist, Humboldt CERT Coalition lead instructor; and team-taught by Linda, Dorie Lanni, emergency services manager, Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services; and Neal O’Haire, national CERT instructor trainer and former senior emergency services coordinator with the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, Coastal Region.

The course was hosted by the Blue Lake Rancheria.

The basic 23-hour CERT course is offered free to interested community members.

For more information, visit humboldtcert.com; to have your name added to the interest list to be notified of upcoming classes, please contact Linda Nellist at [email protected].