CERT in Action!
Douglas County, GA, CERT Team Assists in First Mission
The first mission came quickly for the Douglas County, GA, inaugural CERT members. Almost as soon as they had completed training in November 2008, their assistance was requested on New Year's Eve by the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and Fire Department. A local woman, described as despondent, was reported missing. The search area, over land and water, was more than the traditional first responders could cover. Ten CERT members, some of whom also volunteer on a rescue dive team, reported to incident command and were assigned an area to search. Within 30 minutes, the CERT/rescue dive team volunteers located the body of the missing woman.
Although the incident ended tragically, Jason Milhollin, Director of Emergency Management for Douglas County, said the search proved that CERT is a valuable asset to the county. "It was great to call on a group that had the appropriate training and knew what was expected of them," he said. "Without the CERT/dive team, it would have taken a great deal more time to conduct the search. We look forward to continuing training for new CERT members and growing our new program."
For more information, please contact Jason Milhollin at jmilhollin@co.douglas.ga.us