By Christy Adair, LAFD CERT Valley Bureau Coordinator

Saturday, July 13th was a day that many of us on the Call Out team had been anticipating. It was a day to mark the first “LAFD CERT Call Out Team Academy” and only the current call out team members were invited to the six-hour training. The first thing I learned that day that was that the LAFD CERT Call Out Team includes 108 certified, sworn-in team members across LA City. Impressive.

The day began with introductions. Captain Cody Weireter reminded us of the history of CERT that included not only Frank Borden’s, but also his father, Captain Phil Weireter’s involvement in the program – and that since inception, approximately seventy thousand people have been trained in CERT in Los Angeles. Again, impressive.

Right off the bat – we each introduced ourselves by stating what battalion we serve and when we joined CERT. This provided an snapshot of the depth of historical contributions of the members going as far back as the early 90’s.

The day’s agenda, lecture, demos and training exercises included some weighty-topics such as how nominated CERTs can join the Call Out Team, defining approved medical practices while on a Call Out assignment, removing Level 2 and Level 3 classifications, future uniform standards and approved PPE, LAFD organization and terminology. West and South Bureau Coordinators, Carl & Chin, respectively, led us in a detailed review of the Rat Rig’s capabilities and functions and procedures of how to mobilize and demobilize her effectively. We also got a wonderful insight into the private “Life at a Fire Station” from Fire Fighters Kurt Howard and Randall Opperman that reminded us that a fire station is someone’s home and we need to respect their home every time we are on a station’s property.

Finally, Captain Weireter reminded us that the mission of LAFD CERT is to train the public to take care of themselves, their family and communities, and to do the greatest good for the greatest number. I’m proud to be part of this mission and I look forward to ushering in new members to future LAFD CERT Call Out Team Academy training days.