50+ Lifestyles

RSVP: Lead With Experience

By H. Gayle Lundeen
RSVP Disaster Services Coordinator
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program of Eastern Iowa and Western Illnois

They CERT-ainly Want to Help

A prominent author states that each person has 10 “love tanks.” These different tanks are acquired as we age and are each filled from different source. The first tanks are filled by parents, family and friends when we are young; each successive tank is more external as we get older. By the time we are in our 40’s or so, we develop Tank #8, which is filled by giving back to our community; that is — volunteering. This author, John Gray, contends that to be a satisfied, fulfilled person, we must ensure that our tanks are full. And as many of us know, there are all sorts of ways to fill that volunteering tank. Some ways easier than others.

So, it becomes sort of special when 15 people get together not just to volunteer, but to take 20 hours of training just to volunteer, which is just what 15 people in the Quad Cities did this spring when they took CERT training.

    CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) are teams of people that are trained to help their families and neighbors when a disaster happens. But once their families and neighbors have been taken care of, they are also trained to step forward to help their broader communities. CERT is a program sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security through FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The volunteers are trained in disaster preparedness, fire safety, first aid, medical operations (triage) during disaster, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, terrorism and CERT organization.

The reason for this training is to make disaster volunteers as effective as possible, and to help versus hinder the professional first responders in the event of a disaster. Also, as people in the recent tornado in Rapid City can attest, it is family and neighbors who are usually first on the scene. CERT trained volunteers know not only how to help, but how to keep themselves and others safe as they do so.

   CERT training is delivered through the local Emergency Management Agencies, Fire Departments, Medics and other groups (with coordination provided by RSVP, Retired Senior Volunteer Program).

Now, this all may sound pretty serious and sober, but the graduates have stated that they had fun during the training and met a lot of cool people, not just their classmates, but a number of first responders from the QCA and Clinton County. And we learned that virtual fire extinguisher training isn’t as easy as it sounds!

f you are interested in the next round of training contact me at RSVP: Phone (309) 793-4425
email: glundeen@wiaaa.org.
You may save a life and it may be your own!