Two years ago when community residents were invited to train to become Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members, it sounded like a good idea. Two years later, after witnessing the reverberating aftermaths of the furious hurricanes so mighty that they dwarfed standard emergency responses, training as a neighborhood CERT member seems absolutely essential.

In this paper, we have often written that experts believe that communities and families need the ability to survive in a major disaster without outside help for 76 hours. Now, it is believed that if a powerful hurricane hit Long Island directly, we would need to stand alone for at least a week.

Families would need to have enough water for drinking and sanitation, food that does not require refrigeration or cooking, battery operated radio, flashlights, extra batteries, cash...the list goes on.

People at the federal, state, county and town levels may have elaborate plans in place to deal with disasters, but it is on a block by block basis with neighbors helping neighbors that we will really be most safe lessening the burden on our first responders, our volunteer firefighters, EMTs and police.

In the past two years since Nassau County received a grant from FEMA to organize training sessions for the CERT program, 40 people in Great Neck have gone through the training program. But there is a need to replenish and add to the ranks because people move away or do not keep their certification in active status. Originally, the 20-hour training program was condensed into a two-week time frame with no possibility to make up a missed class. The schedule for becoming trained has become more "volunteer friendly" now. The next opportunity to train to be a CERT member will begin on Thursday, June 8 from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Classes will run every Thursday evening for five weeks, ending July 6. Now, if you must miss a class, you may make it up, usually at another site around the county.

Volunteers are taught to make sure that they have followed basic emergency preparedness in their own homes first so that if called upon they can fan out to help the larger community if an emergency occurs, knowing that their families are safe. The training guide that was given to each CERT trainee spells out a long list of items that a home disaster supply kit should contain. All of the participants the Record interviewed stated that they had learned a tremendous amount of information that they would apply at home and at the workplace.

The course also touched on fire safety, emergency medical operations, light search and rescue, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism and specific facts about various types of hazards and emergency events. CERT graduates know that while they have learned much valuable information, what they have learned is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to dealing with disasters. Team members are encouraged to expand upon their training in areas such as advanced first aid, community relations, CPR, automated external defibrillator use, debris removal, donations management and shelter management.

Trainees were given a getaway bag packed with necessary items that they might need to assist in an emergency. Each person received a reflective vest, hardhat, flashlight, goggles, dust mask, duct tape and special CERT identification badges.

You must be at least 18 years old, but that, and a willingness to help out, meets the CERT requirement. Bob Beckman, the Nassau County CERT coordinator and instructor, says that one of the volunteers is an 88-year-old woman who is trained to help with less physical tasks such as office work and handling phone calls. He says that there would be plenty of jobs to do that do not require great physical prowess.

When there was flooding on the South Shore last year, CERT volunteers handled the damage reports, an important part of getting reimbursed from FEMA.

Some CERT members are preparing themselves to talk to community groups, PTAs, religious institutions, civic groups and the like about family preparedness.

There is also a special CERT care team comprised of doctors, nurses, social workers, psychologists and counselors and if you have any of those qualifications, you are especially urged to consider volunteering.

Nassau County has 423 trained CERT members and the goal is to have at least 600 by the end of the year. In order to stay current as a CERT member, one must attend a refresher course each year.

A few weeks ago this reporter attended a CERT refresher course on basic fire safety. Do you know that fire extinguishers have expiration dates and can go bad? Do you know that you should sleep with your bedroom door closed? Do you know that there are different types of fires? Different types of extinguishers for fighting specific fires? While no on would come out of such a class armed to fight fires (firefighters undergo 100 hours of training for starters) and there is an emphasis on knowing one's limitations and calling in the pros, it was nevertheless, good information to squirrel away.

There is no doubt that the more citizens who are prepared to deal with emergencies, the more quickly communities will recover from whatever befalls us. It pays to heed Katrina's lessons.

Please call Karen Luciano Bartolotto at 718-923-4221 (day) or at 516-629-6424 (evening). Or email her at: nassaucert@optonline.net

Schedule: All classes are held in the evening from 6 to 10 p.m. at Lake Success Village Police Department, 15 Vanderbilt Drive, Lake Success.

Food and drink will be provided at all classes.

Classes will be held on Thursday, June 8; Thursday, June 15; Thursday, June 21; Thursday, June 29; and Thursday, July 6.

If you must miss a class, they must be made-up in order to become certified.

For further information, you may visit the CERT website:

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/OEM/CC/CERT/