At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Jim Dahl presented Certificates of Recognition to the following Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members in recognition of their willingness and commitment to assist the community in the event of a disaster: Vicki Asher-Wills, Harold Book, Yvonne Bustamonte, Antonio French, Bill Griffin, Donald Grow, Christina Heinl, Donna Krecu, Evelyn Larimore, Scott McKee, James Proett, Vicki Spinelli, Parker Steel, John Stewart, Jeffrey Vick, Aleta Walther and Brad Wills.

Emergency Planning Officer Jen Tucker also presented Mayor Dahl with a green CERT vest and hardhat, and brought him into the fold as an honorary member.

“I really want to thank all of you for doing this,” Dahl, a former San Clemente fire captain said. “I know from experience, but we’re definitely all on our own for the first 72 hours following a large-scale emergency. That’s a great deal of time in a situation like that, and it’s up to the community to take care of itself during those crucial hours.”

CERT held a total of seven sessions for participants throughout May and June, which covered Disaster Preparedness, Disaster and Fire Suppression, Disaster Medical Operations, First Aid/CPR/AED, Light Search and Rescue Operations, Disaster Psychology, Team Operations and Terrorism and Course Review and Disaster Simulation.

Next up, CERT will hold a new set of sessions in January 2011 and will partner with Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“The class is going well in terms of recruitment,” Tucker said. “We already have 20 spaces filled and there are 30 total available.”

More information is available by contacting Tucker at 949.361.6109 or tuckerj@san-clemente.org.