CERT Basic Training Class for 2026

 

Changes are coming to the CERT Basic Training Program in our Fire District. These changes are happening to streamline and focus the material on both major and everyday disasters in an effort to be more relevant and accessible to the community. And, NLFR will take a more active role in the training process with EMT/Paramedic, Hunter Pariani, heavily involved (YAY).

One big change is going from eight, 2-hour classes to four, 2-hour classes. That means some material from the FEMA training will get moved either to the regular monthly meetings and/or the skills practice and Mock Disaster Drill that happens on a Saturday, following the classroom sessions.

To be clear, these changes are NOT originating from FEMA. Rather, they are being done locally, for the reasons stated above.

And, the classes will be held at Station 16 (St. Clair, behind the Otis Cafe in Taft) rather than OCCC starting Thursday, April 9th, 2026, at 5:30PM. The classes will continue every Thursday through April 30th with the Mock Disaster Drill held on May 9th. All at Station 16. OCCC will promote the classes and manage registration but that won't be available until Catch the Wave is published in late February/early March, 2026.

The planned class content is as follows:

• Units 1 & 2 combined with a heavy emphasis on preparedness and a much lighter emphasis on the CERT Organization to focus more on the everyday disasters that affect our area. Anyone's power gone out recently?
• Units 3 & 4, Disaster Medical Operations, combined into one session with focus on treating life threatening conditions (3 killers), + splinting and discussion about hygiene/sanitation and water purification. All relevant for major and "everyday" disasters.
• Unit 5, Disaster Psychology (FEMA portion) for one hour followed by De-Escalation best practices from Lincoln City Police Department as a revised method of delivering the content.
• Unit 7, Light Search and Rescue remains its own, two hour session with the content mostly the same from FEMA's training but with the addition of how to prevent the need for SAR (search and rescue) in the first place. (e.g. beach logs, mushroom hunting, hiking alone, etc)

Note:

• Unit 6, Fire Safety and Utility Controls, is moved to the Skills Workshop day and no longer part of the classroom curriculum
• Unit 8 ,CERT and Terrorism, is completed online (if desired) but becomes part of the monthly meeting planning focused on "Active Threat" and Evacuation. Lincoln City Police and the city's Emergency Preparedness department have done these training's previously.
• We will retain the Skills workshop and Mock Disaster Drill as it's normally done and required to complete the program
• Skills workshop includes five stations - Fire Safety and suppression, controlling bleeding, splinting, cribbing, opening airway/recovery position

The Board feels these changes will encourage more community participation by reducing the initial time commitment and focusing the content on what's most relevant to our area. With NLFR more involved, the community will make the connection between the Fire District and CERT more easily. And, the "gravitas" of the Fire District supporting this training will lead to higher levels of enrollment. We believe.

More to come as the date gets closer for the 2026 CERT Basic Training.

And, for a detailed look at the CERT Team on-boarding process (how to become a member), click HERE to download a flyer.