TEEN CERT TEACHES ADVANCED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM TO AREA SCOUT TROOPS
December 6, 2009
St. Charles County
Boy Scouts, adult leaders and parents from Greater St. Louis Area Council Boone Trails District Troop 853 in Wentzville, recently graduated from an advanced emergency preparedness program called TEEN CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). The troop hosted instructors and resources of the St. Charles County TEEN CERT program.
Council and district executives requested the assistance of the TEEN CERT program to pilot a more advanced emergency preparedness training program beginning with Scouts from the Boone Trails District. Mark Rosenblum is the program director for the St. Charles County program. Along with several firefighters from local fire departments, Rosenblum and other instructors presented medical, fire and search expertise, while a crisis counselor taught the psychology aspect of an emergency to the participants.
Last year, the Boy Scouts of America and Department of Homeland Security teamed up to develop an initiative called “Emergency Preparedness BSA”. The thought behind the program is that when an emergency occurs, it affects every youth and adult member of BSA in the immediate area, creating the responsibility to respond first, as an individual; second, as a member of a family; and third, as a member of a Scouting unit serving the neighborhood and community. Because of these multiple levels of responsibility, the Emergency Preparedness BSA plan includes training for individual, family, and unit preparedness. Special training in all three areas is a prerequisite for BSA members conducting any type of emergency service in their communities.
The TEEN CERT program is a curriculum-based program that provides students with a knowledge base on the effects of natural and man-made disasters and their emotional, social, and economic impacts. The curriculum and presentation are based on the national CERT program with adjustments made to reflect more focus on self, family, community and school. It builds decision-making and problem solving skills and strategies to help students make informed decisions regarding readiness, response & recovery and mitigation efforts to reduce loss of life and property.
The Emergency Preparedness BSA program was created to inspire the desire and foster the skills to meet this challenge in our youth and adult members so that they can participate effectively in this crucial service to their families, communities, and nation.
“The benefits to all parties involved are tremendous,” states Rosenblum. “First and foremost” he continued, “it teaches youth how to better prepare themselves, families and communities for emergency situations.” In addition to the Scouts receiving a state-issued certificate of completion for TEEN CERT, the students can earn their Emergency Preparedness, First Aid, Fire Safety, and Safety merit badges, as well as the “Good Turn for America” award and a certificate from the district.
The TEEN CERT program in St. Charles County is a model for other Scouting programs and schools around the nation. The popularity of the St. Charles County program has grown into other districts requesting the Boy Scout TEEN CERT course that is underway in the Boone Trails District. “The team portion of the curriculum is stressed and expanded on to allow the Scouts a chance to build trusts and share ideas,” said Rosenblum. “This can also help individual schools with trained TEEN CERT program graduates to determine if they want to incorporate the program into the school’s Emergency Operation Plan (EOP) as a team or simply for individual student’s education.” The program is ready for any school interested in implementing the program. Schools across the nation are adopting TEEN CERT and the Emergency Management Institute recently incorporated TEEN CERT into the toolkit for the G362 Multi-Hazards Emergency Planning for Schools Train-the-Trainer course.
TEEN CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While ordinary citizens will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the TEEN CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves or others in unnecessary danger.
With the mandatory 20-hours of TEEN CERT training, Scouts learn to manage utilities and put out small fires, and treat the three medical killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock. TEEN CERT members also learn to provide basic medical aid, search for and rescue victims safely, organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective, and collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.
“Local governments prepare for everyday emergencies,” remarked Rosenblum. “However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The TEEN CERT program trains Scouts and other volunteers in all-risk, all-hazard situations.”
Teens, as well as adults, who go through TEEN CERT training have a better understanding of the potential threats to their home, school and community and can take the right steps to lessen the effects of these hazards on themselves, their families and neighborhood. “If a disaster happens that overwhelms local response capability, TEEN CERT members can apply the training learned in the classroom and during exercises to give critical support to their family and neighbors in their immediate area until help arrives,” says Rosenblum. “When help does arrive” Rosenblum adds, “TEEN CERT members can provide useful information to the responders and support their efforts, as directed, at the disaster site.” On average in a true disaster, it could take anywhere from 72-96 hours before emergency relief arrives, so TEEN CERT would play a vital role in performing triage and passing on very important information to emergency personnel.
“The schedule for the TEEN CERT program in St. Charles County is adjustable to fit each group’s busy schedules,” said Rosenblum. The task list associated with the schedule outlines what actions need to be taken in a timeframe conducive to the program’s implementation. The lessons learned are actually additional guidance to support implementation and the students’ survey feedback prove the program’s success and understanding from the students’ perspectives.
In addition to the Scouts from Troop 853, several other troops have successfully completed the program including Troop 390 from Troy, Missouri and Troop 974 from St. Charles. In all, the pilot program has graduated nearly 90 Scouts and adult leaders since August, on its’ way to a goal of 50 troops with more than 1500 Scouts, adult leaders and parents.
Copyright 2009 Neighbors About Town
