Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Emergency Services > Fire Rescue Department > Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Have you ever felt as if there was something you could do in an emergency? If your answer is yes, we need you. The Sandy Springs Fire Rescue Department is enrolling volunteers to be trained for the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). The training will begin in early spring.

The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may have an impact on their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders have not arrived on the scene. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The State of Georgia, Office of the Governor, has awarded the City of Sandy Springs an $8,000 grant funded from the Homeland Security Grant Program for its Citizen Corps Initiatives. The City will use the funding to begin its CERT program. The grant will pay for the materials for participants, as well as for outreach materials for the community. Each person trained will receive an emergency response kit, CERT materials and outreach materials.

If you or your organization would like to be trained in the CERT program, contact Billy Rice, william.rice@sandyspringsga.org.