01/03/2024
A Very Brief History of Wood County Wood CERT
Wood County CERT (2010-2014) was a nationally accredited, formally trained organization of local citizen volunteers working with First Responders to help grow and strengthen the public safety network in Wood County. The CERT Program, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations, all in compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the National Response Framework (NRF). Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. Even though Wood County CERT members volunteered well over 2,100 hours providing disaster relief during the 2012 Derecho Event that devastated Wood County and totally overwhelmed emergency responders for over a week, the Wood County Commission and the City of Parkersburg decided that citizen volunteers extensively trained to assist their neighbors in times of disaster was not in the best interest of their constituents, and the program was closed down in April of 2014.
