West Hartford

West Hartford High Schoolers Train to Become the First Students to be CERT Certified

The goal is to expose students to potential career paths like emergency management, fire protection and law enforcement. The group of 20 participated in a hands-on mock search and rescue and fire training.

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For the first time in Connecticut, students from West Hartford’s Public Schools are completing a two-week teen Community Emergency Response Team, also known as CERT, training.

"We brought in professionals like firefighters, paramedics, police officers to give them a sense of day of life. So while we’re not necessarily the ones fighting fires and searching in buildings and so forth, we support the ones who do," Team Leader West Hartford Community Response Bob Hillborn said.

The goal is to expose students to potential career paths like emergency management, fire protection and law enforcement. The group of 20 participated in a hands-on mock search and rescue and fire training.

Mabret Farquhr is a rising high school senior and is an excited participant because she said being a part of this program is a dream come true 

"Today, honestly is my favorite part of the class" says Farquhr. "I’ve always kind of dreamt of being like a first responder in some capacity so when they had this class to sign up for, I was very excited. So when all the first responders came in, I had a lot of questions because I just like helping people." 

The students will receive the certificate on Wednesday and will become fully certified CERT members.

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