The Alachua County Public Safety Department’s Division of Emergency Management is now enrolling citizens in its Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program.

CERT teaches citizens how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

The next CERT class is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 and runs through October 19, 2010.

“It is never too late to begin preparing for the 2010 Hurricane Season,” said Emergency Management Chief David Donnelly, “and there’s no better way than to attend the CERT program.”

The seven-week class is free-of-charge to the public and covers the following topics:

Disaster Preparedness

Fire Safety

Disaster Medical Operations

Light Search and Rescue Operations

CERT Organization and Disaster Psychology

Terrorism and CERT

The seven classes are on Tuesday evenings, and each session runs from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Classes are held at the Alachua County Emergency Operations Center located at 1100 SE 27^th Street in Gainesville. The registration deadline is September 6, 2010.

For more information, or to register, please contact Emergency Management at 352-264-6500, or click here to go to the website.