MSU offering free emergency preparedness training next week

Contact: Morgan Tubbs

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State's Campus-Community Emergency Response Team and Maroon Volunteer Center are announcing several training opportunities beginning Monday [Sept. 16] during national Emergency Preparedness Week.

The twice-daily training sessions held at various campus locations are free and open to all members of the MSU, Starkville and Oktibbeha County communities. A full schedule of the week's events and registration are available at www.cert.msstate.edu.

Since space is limited, early registration is encouraged.

"Last year we approached the C-CERT with the idea of putting on an emergency preparedness training program that would be free and open to the public," said Meggan Franks, MVC coordinator. "We have students, faculty and staff that are interested in disaster preparedness, so this would give them the opportunity to get some training and meet experts in the field."

The week concludes Saturday [the 21st] with a formal recognition of local law enforcement, fire departments and other first-responder and emergency management personnel. They will be honored prior to the kickoff of MSU's 6:30 p.m. home football game with Troy University at Scott Field at Davis Wade Stadium.

Franks said feedback from participants in 2012 indicated "they wanted more training over a longer period of time, so we spread the sessions out over a week and encouraged more of our students to participate."

This year's training sessions will include introductions to the C-CERT and MSU's Crisis Action Team, extreme weather presentations, natural disaster preparedness presentations and First Aid, CPR, and AED refresher courses, among others.

The second annual PREP Day--an acronym for Personal Readiness and Emergency Preparedness--takes place Thursday [the 19th].

"Emergency Preparedness Week and P.R.E.P. are really our hallmark events from a proactive context," said C-CERT coordinator Ryan Akers. "We're excited about all of the initiatives that we have on the slate for the week.

"We feel that we must use our knowledge and backgrounds to better inform our communities of the threats that they face and how they can better prepare and equip themselves and their families in the event of such incidents," Akers added.

Agencies assisting with the training include the MSU Extension Service and the university's Office of Environmental Health and Safety and recreational sports department, along with the Starkville Fire Department, Mississippi Civil Support Team, Mississippi Citizens Corps, Mississippi Department of Health, Oktibbeha County Emergency Management Agency, Golden Triangle Hazardous Materials Response Team, and Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

For more information, contact Franks at 662-325-2208 or volunteer@saffairs.msstate.edu; Akers at 325-5914 or cakers@humansci.msstate.edu.