Center For Disaster Research & Education

About the Center

Impact of CERT Training at Millersville

Each semester, the Center for Disaster Research and Education (CDRE) hosts Community Emergency Response Team training (CERT) for both Millersville students and the community. Through this training, participants are educated and trained on how to prepare and respond to disasters in their own communities, particularly when emergency services are not available. After students complete the training, they have the knowledge and the skills needed to safely handle disaster and emergency situations.

Anastasia Rega, currently in her senior year in the Social Work program at Millersville, completed the training in Fall 2024. Just a few weeks after her training, on December 22, 2024, she found her training to be particularly useful during a traffic accident on her way home for the holidays.

“I was driving home for the holidays when I found myself stuck in traffic on I-83N. Not at all surprising, as it is a heavy merge area and this often happens. However, this time it was not a merging issue, but a three-car accident issue. I had moved to get into a moving lane when I looked over and saw that 1, no one had stopped to see if the people involved in the accident were all right, and 2, emergency services hadn't arrived yet. It took less than two seconds for me to realize this was the situation, and I pulled over about ten yards behind the accident and put my hazards on. I checked on each "participant," let them know I wasn't anyone official, but wanted to be sure they were okay. All members assured me that they were, but the women in the second (and worst) affected vehicle were clearly shaken up with the driver barely not crying. I told them that I was going to wait in my car until the police arrived and asked if they would let me know if they needed anything.

I was in my car, running my training through my head when I thought of shock and its effects on the body. I knew the likelihood of those women being in actual shock were low, but I also knew someone had just given me homemade Christmas cookies. I grabbed the box and went back to the van, quickly explained what shock was, and offered them the cookies. At this point, the front seat passenger looked at me and asked, "Are you an angel?" I laughed and said, “Definitely not”.

In all, from my time of arrival to emergency responders arriving was about 40 minutes. In this time, no one else stopped but plenty of people on both sides of the highway took their time to look. It makes me think of how I probably would have been one of them, if not for the CERT training.”

If Anastasia hadn’t participated in the CERT training and stopped to make sure nobody was hurt, the victims would have been sitting there for a long time before emergency services would have arrived. If the victims would have been badly injured, they may not have been able to get the medical attention they needed in time. It is important to continue to train members of our community on basic disaster preparedness and response in order to help themselves, their families, and neighbors during a disaster or emergency.

This semester’s CERT training is scheduled for March 29^th, and April 5^th-6^th. Registration is now open and costs $15. The program fee covers the cost of materials, including a CERT backpack and a T-shirt. Click here to register.

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IAEM Conference 2024

This year, 13 students from the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) student club at Millersville had the opportunity to attend the 72nd annual IAEM conference in Colorado Springs, CO from November 16th - November 21st. At the conference, they got to attend several conference sessions on topics relating to emergency management, meet and network with professionals from all over the world, and attend an EMEX where they got to explore different career/internship opportunities within the field.

To find out more about the IAEM club at Millersville and how to join, click here.

 

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CDRE certifies 24 Students to be CERT Volunteers

Over the course of the past 2 weekends, Millersville Center for Disaster Research and Education (CDRE) trained and certified 24 students to be Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteers. CERT is a program created by FEMA to train community members and its volunteers about disaster preparedness and what they can do in their communities to help respond to disasters before emergency personnel arrive. CERT trains its volunteers in basic disaster preparedness, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Millersville CDRE offers training every fall and spring, with sign-ups released early each semester. 

 To learn more about the CERT training program, click here.

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College of Graduate Studies Newsletter - Spring 2024

Catch up on the latest information from the College of Graduate Studies and Adult Learning in the Spring Newsletter here!

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