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Training Volunteers to Assist in the Wake of a Disaster

CERT Volunteers Trying on Equipment
FEMA
CERT Volunteers Trying on Equipment

Following a disaster like a hurricane, first responders and emergency management officials have their hands full, and while many people might like to offer their help by volunteering, untrained volunteers can often be less than helpful, and sometimes even just get in the way. Community Emergency Response Teams, or CERTS, have been around since the early 90s. They provide a standardized training process that prepares volunteers to respond safely, responsibly, and effectively to emergency situations.

We’re joined by Ruth Rodrigues, Director of Emergency Management at Florida Gulf Coast University; Austin Brown, an FGCU student who is currently serving as the FGCU CERT President; and Ellen Pinder, Mitigation Planner and CERT Coordinator at Charlotte County Emergency Management.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.