1130 Hours, Friday, May 4, 2012: Sussex County is in search of a few good volunteers.

The Sussex County Citizen Corps and the Emergency Operations Center will hold an informational meeting from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, May 17, 2012, for anyone interested in learning more about disaster preparedness and how to volunteer their services in a crisis situation. The classes will be held at the County EOC, located at 21911 Rudder Lane, just east of Georgetown.

The meeting will be the first in a weekly series of free sessions to be held throughout the summer, training everyday people in how to become members of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). CERT teams are volunteer units made up of regular citizens who support public safety officials during disasters and times of crisis.

Classes will cover various topics, including fire safety, medical operations, light search/rescue, organization, disaster psychology, and terrorism.

CERT training is designed to help citizens help themselves and their neighbors before first responders arrive. CERT is not a replacement for 911 or emergency management; it educates citizens in ways to help each other when resources may be limited.

Created in 2002 as a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Citizen Corps provides everyday people an opportunity to learn how to respond to disasters, whether man-made or natural, and use that training to support public safety. Sussex County adopted a volunteer program in 2007.

For more information or to register for the free classes, please contact Carl Davis at (302) 858-5302 or at citizencorps@sussexcountyde.gov.

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