Community response team trained, certified

NEWPORT – The newly formed Pend Oreille Community Emergency Response Team recently held their first certification training course.

Thirteen of their 21 volunteer/ members trained and received certification for proficiency in first aid, minor search and rescue, fire safety and disaster organization training.

The 24-hour training took place over two consecutive weekends at the Southern Baptist Church on Highway 2 in Newport.

Trainers from Bonner County CERT provided a combination of classroom instruction and simulation exercises to equip Pend Oreille County CERT members in how to provide help for the community if a disaster were to occur.

POCERT’s goal to educate and prepare neighborhoods for disasters that are most likely to impact communities like floods, volcanic eruptions, extreme weather events and wildfires. POCERT will conduct neighborhood seminars throughout the county. Call 509671-7642 for scheduling or more information.

“Because we live in a sparsely populated and well forested county, wildfire is by far our biggest concern,” said Jim Jeffers, president of Pend Oreille Community Emergency Response Team. “We are listed as having a calculated risk factor of ‘4’ in the county’s Multi-Jurisdiction Hazard Mitigation Plan. That means the probability of having a catastrophic fire event annually is 100%. The years we don’t are simply our good fortune.”