Jackson State News Archives

Jackson State Community College will hold a two-day emergency response training for its employees August 12-13. The training will be held in conjunction with Madison County EMS through its Community Emergency Response Training (CERT).

CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations in which citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can make a difference. Through training, citizens can manage utilities and put out small fires; treat the three killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock; provide basic medical aid; search for and rescue victims safely; and organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective.

“We wanted to offer this training to our employees so that Jackson State can be ready to assist the community when and if a need arises,” said Leah Gray, safety coordinator and director of human resources for JSCC. “I think that after the February tornado we were all thinking ‘what if that had happened to us.’ Through this training, we will learn what to do if we are ever in that situation and it will make us feel better knowing we are prepared.”

The two-day training will include sessions on disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, and disaster psychology and team organization.

The training will culminate in a disaster simulation on August 15 at 10 a.m. on the Jackson State campus. Participants will have the opportunity to practice all the skills learned in the training sessions. Additional Jackson State employees are participating in the disaster simulation as victims.

“Our employees are very good to come together and rally around a problem or crisis. It’s one of the things I love about working here. This training will bring us together even more and help us be prepared to take care of each other and our students if a disaster hits our campus,” said Gray.