Warrenton High School students recently finished the final training exercise of their Community Emergency Response Team training.
The 80 sophomore students performed triage, first aid and search-and-rescue, with assistance from students in the Seaside High School Teen CERT program.
CERT educates people about disaster preparedness and trains them in basic disaster response skills.
In Warrenton, the school established a Teen CERT group and made the training part of the required health curriculum. The high school plans to continue that approach next year.
At the completion of the exercise, 68 Warrenton students became CERT member certified.
Bijan Fayyaz, the Clatsop County Emergency Management coordinator, said the Seaside CERT members enjoyed their opportunity to “run the show” and experience the leadership side of the program.
Seaside High School is considering adding CERT to its curriculum.
Fayyaz is completing a one-year contract with the county through the RARE Americorps program out of the University of Oregon. The program places recent graduates and professionals in rural Oregon communities to fill a community need.
Originally Published in The Daily Astorian
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