Palos Verdes Peninsula
Community Emergency Response Team

January 5, 2005
(Update)

With 175 current members, more and more residents complete the CERT training and the Palos Verdes Peninsula CERT program continues to grow. As we grow, our management team is making changes we believe will make the program more interesting to members and more effective for the community. We would like to take a moment to review some of these with you:

PERT + PVECERT = PVPCERT

Peninsula Emergency Response Team (PERT) and the Palos Verdes Estates Community Emergency Response Team (PVECERT) have merged to form Palos Verdes Peninsula Community Emergency Response Team (PVPCERT). The change better reflects the peninsula-wide scope of our group and is consistent with the nationally recognized FEMA CERT program requirements.

Palos Verdes Peninsula CERT, Inc. is now a registered California Corporation and has applied for IRS Tax Exempt status as a non-profit entity under IRS 501 (c) (3).

PVPCERT helmets, vests and multipurpose (gas line) wrenches with visible PVPCERT identification have been ordered and will be distributed to all members when received.

New PVPCERT WEB SITE In January 05 we will introduce a new PVPCERT web site that will provide updated information on our new CERT class dates, our bimonthly meeting schedule and training programs, emergency preparedness, homeland security and several important related links (including a link to the new Citizen's Corps site at www.eprepared.org). You can view our web site today at www.palosverdes.com/pert. The name will be changing and we will keep you posted on the new name when registered. Stay tuned for our new web address and information line email address.

2005 PVPCERT Bimonthly Training Meetings

Enhanced training to make our bimonthly meetings more interactive and interesting for all will be a priority in 2005. We have asked the Fire and Sheriff's Departments to provide more "hands-on" classes and to encourage more participation in the classes. The 2005 meeting schedule is as follows:

  • Thursday Jan 27 Triage and Medical Assessment (with hands-on drills)
  • Thursday March 24
  • Thursday May 26
  • Thursday July28
  • Thursday Sept 22

Meetings will be held at 7:00PM at Hess Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd, RPV.

Advanced training for volunteer responders

The primary objective of CERT is to assist citizens in being better prepared at home and to provide assistance to immediate neighbors. The more trained members we have, the better prepared we are to deal with and recover from disaster. Some CERT members are also interested in responding to the needs of the larger community, possibly into other parts of LA County. Beginning in 2005, we will establish advanced training programs and mandatory participation requirements for those interested in larger scale response. This training will be available to those interested in responding beyond your immediate neighborhood or in participating on our Incident Management Teams. If you are interested, please advise Sgt. Rozas at 310 891 3227. We will provide you with more information on this soon.

2005 CERT Basic Training Schedule

We have set the dates for our first two new CERT classes for 2005. We will run a Saturday class and a week night class as follows:

  • Saturdays (3) Feb 12, *19 and 26 from 8:00AM to 5:00PM.
  • Wednesday evenings (7) March 16, 23, 30, April 6, 13, 20, and April 27th from 7:00 to 9:30PM.

New CERT Classes will be held at Hess Park, 29301 Hawthorne Blvd., RPV on all dates except *Feb 19, which will be at Ladera Linda Community Center, 32201 Forrestal Drive.

On behalf of your PVPCERT Executive Committee and LA County CERT Coordinators from LA County Fire and Sheriff, we wish you the very best for the New Year.