First-Ever Explorer CERT Graduation

Congratulations to Explorers from Posts 13 and 20, who graduated from the first-ever Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Explorer group training held on August 25. Along with Explorers from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the South Gate Police Department, our Fire Explorers learned basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.

"It was a good class and everybody was always enthusiastic and wanted to learn," says Fire Fighter Specialist Dan Hayashi, who along with Fire Fighter Specialist Mickey Juarez, taught the class. "The kids seemed like they really enjoyed the class. Plus, this kind of training is something they can take with them the rest of their lives." Fire Chief Daryl Osby, a big proponent of the Explorer Program, was in attendance to recognize the graduates, along with South Gate Police Chief Randy Davis.

By learning these valuable skills, our Explorers will now be able to assist their families and communities in being self-sufficient until first responders can arrive following a disaster. Training our explorers in CERT has the added benefit that now they can also assist our CERT instructors in holding these classes for the community. This class was so successful that Explorer CERT classes are in the works for future academies!