CERT Course Offerings

Douglas County Emergency Management periodically provides Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) trainings. 

About CERT Classes

This training course includes information on Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Medical Operations, Light Search and Rescue, Terrorism, Team Organization and other related safety areas. At the conclusion of the training you may register to become a CERT Volunteer or you may just take this training for educational purposes. Authorized CERT Volunteers provide support to first responders and other agencies during a disaster and at community events as directed by Emergency Management.

Anyone over the age of eighteen (18) is welcome to register. Registrants must attend all sessions to graduate and receive a certificate. The course is free, but registration is required to participate in the training. 

For more information, contact Kate Dinneen, CERT Coordinator.

Here’s an overview of what you can expect when you take the Weekend CERT class.

  • We start on Friday evening with introductory materials such as the basics of what is CERT, how to be prepared, what disasters we might have in our county, making a preparedness kit.  The first sessions are set up to make sure you know how to be ready yourself and what might be expected of you in general as a CERT volunteer.
  • Saturday is a more active, hands on time.  We spend the whole day learning skills in Medical Operations, Search & Rescue, Pets in Disasters, and Fire.  We provide lunch and have a presentation on Terrorism while we eat.
  • On Sunday we gather at 12:30 and have a Skills Test where you will have a chance to show us what you’ve learned, find out which roles in CERT you are comfortable with and then we have a presentation on Disaster Psychology as part of our debrief session.  After that, if you’ve been with us for the whole weekend, you will receive a certificate of completion and a flash drive with all the power point presentations which you can review at your leisure.

New Classes!

Registration for the Spring 2024 CERT Weekend Class is open. This class will take place in Lawrence from Aril 19-21. Fill out the form below to register for the April class.