Junior CERT Guide 
The East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness recently
initiated a program that provides basic
emergency preparedness training for children
ranging from ages 6 to 12, to teenagers, as
well as children with disabilities. As of
July 2008, the Junior Community Emergency
Response Team (Junior CERT) Training program
has educated over 2000 children in the Baton
Rouge area.
The program was designed with influence from
the Citizen Corps derived volunteer
initiative, CERT. The Junior CERT Training
Program targets children from the Baton
Rouge area to encourage them to be prepared
for various disasters and emergencies, as
well as encouraging them to become
volunteers in our office in the future.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness
established a teaching partnership with
agencies such as, the Baton Rouge Police
Department, Baton Rouge Fire Department,
ExxonMobil, and WAFB to implement this
program. These agencies eagerly agreed to
participate in this new program, which
helped to influence the interest of the
children, and allowed the agency to
disseminate beneficial information for the
children and their parents.
Junior CERT Curriculum
Disaster Medical Operations
The Emergency Medical portion of the training
is tasked with teaching the participants how
to handle minor first aid emergencies such
as, nose bleeds, sprung limbs, and minor
cuts and burns..
Emergency Management
The Emergency Management aspect of the
training provides the trainees with
information about how to shelter-in-place,
prepare for various disasters including
weather emergencies, and the functions of
the Emergency Operations Center during
various incidents..
Fire Safety
This portion of the training allows the Baton
Rouge Fire Department to deliver important
information about how to handle fire related
emergencies as well as basic fire safety.
Police
The Baton Rouge Police Department has the role
of extending information that concerns
safety around the neighborhood (i.e. talking
to strangers, walking streets alone at
night, opening doors for unknown people).
The purpose of the Junior CERT Training
Program is to educate children, but also
give them the opportunity to educate their
parents with the information that is given
to them during the training. As we educate
young people about emergency preparedness it
is important that adults recognize its
importance as well. The knowledge about
emergency preparedness is passed to the
parents once the children complete their
training, because they are excited about
their new knowledge and are ready to share
it. Using the Junior CERT Training Program
as a tactic to educate children and adults
about the level of importance in regards to
emergency preparedness, proves that the city
of Baton Rouge is continuing to strive to
create a safe environment for its citizens.
If you are interested in the Junior CERT Program or would like more information please contact the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness at (225) 389-2100 or fill out and fax a
Presentation Request Form which can be found at:
Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
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