FAIRFIELD TWP. — Seventeen members of the Fairfield Twp. Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association are one step away from becoming the township's first community emergency response training team.

Taught by the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, the weekly training sessions at the Fairfield Twp. Police Department are scheduled to conclude Nov. 13.

The training is funded by a Department of Homeland Security grant, said Jim Hamblin, contingency planner for the county EMA.

Fairfield Twp.'s customized course curriculum includes disaster awareness, fire safety techniques, terrorism awareness and light search-and-rescue options.

"We finish up with a disaster scenario they participate in and use the training they received," Hamblin said.

Participant Mary Alcorn said it is important that citizen police academy grads are able to help the community when needed.

"If we get called out and we're the first there, we would assess the damage, and if it's mild damage, we could assist until the police or fire departments arrived," she said.

Butler County, which started its Community Emergency Response Team program five years ago, now has the state's largest CERT team, Hamblin said.

About 950 people throughout the county have been trained, Hamblin said.

Participants in the course receive training in CPR, first aid and defibrillator use. They also receive a backpack containing $75 worth of safety equipment including a hardhat, safety vest, gloves, dust mask, safety glasses and a first aid kit — all at no charge.

Besides hands-on training, the course emphasizes an important life lesson, Alcorn said.

"We all need to be aware of our surroundings because anything could happen at any time," she said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5126

or eschwartzberg@coxohio.com.