Saturday is Recruitment Day for Community Emergency Response Team
If there’s one thing that was evident over the summer in the wake of the July 4 flooding emergency, it is that natural disasters can strike at any time and having trained “boots on the ground” is essential to any search, rescue and recovery operation.
As such, the Kerr County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is looking to add to its ranks of trained “citizen heroes.”
“We are looking for some new recruits to join our team. What we need are folks who can keep calm, cool and collected in the face of an emergency,” said Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator William B. “Dub” Thomas.
“If you (or some folks you know) are the type of person who never hesitates to jump to the aid of neighbors in their time of need, then we are very interested in talking with you (or them),” Thomas said.
Join Up!
Want to find out more? Then circle Saturday, Jan. 31, on the calendar! That’s when leadership of CERT will host a recruitment event at 10 a.m. in the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office Training Room, located off Clearwater Paseo.
“During the months that followed our devastating flood, CERT team members served a vital role. They contributed in so many valuable ways – whether it was out in the field or near the Kerrville/Kerr County EOC (Emergency Operations Center),” Thomas said.
The spirit of volunteerism was on a worldwide display as our local CERT members added strength to our forces when it was absolutely needed most.
Typically, CERT squad members are the first folks on the ground after an area is struck by disaster – whether natural or man-made in design. Often, they find themselves in less-than-ideal circumstances as they conduct situation assessments and recon for uniformed emergency personnel before their agencies can arrive on scene.
“We need more people who can have the presence of mind under stressful circumstances to provide accurate damage assessments, tackle the logistics of organizing volunteer responses and maybe even conduct the distribution of food and emergency resources to people negatively impacted, as well as any number of other duties they may be called upon to perform,” he added.
Emergency Training
Those signing on as team members must complete the CERT Basic Training Weekend tentatively scheduled Feb. 27-March 1, 2026.
Training will cover such topics as disaster preparedness, fire safety and utility controls, disaster medical operations light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism and more.
Kerr County CERT meets the second Thursday of each month at the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office, 400 Clearwater Paseo in Kerrville.
Applications join CERT are available at https://www.co.kerr.tx.us/sheriff/cert/apps.html.
For more questions or information, contact Dub Thomas by emailing william.thomas@so.kerrcountytx.gov or by phoning 830-315-2430 during regular business hours.