Goleta Graduates 15 Additional Teen Community Emergency Response Team Members

Fifteen graduates were recognized on Friday, August 2, for completing the joint City of Goleta/UCSB Teen Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. Mayor Pro Tem Michael T. Bennett presented the graduates with certificates. This is the third annual Teen CERT Class offered for the Isla Vista/Goleta community. In addition, it is the only Teen CERT Class offered in Santa Barbara County, as well as being one of the few offered nationally.

CERT training prepares community members to become educated in the area of emergency preparedness. CERT participants are trained to serve as part of neighborhood or workplace response teams in the event of a major disaster, when emergency services may not be available and when residents may have to rely on each other for life-saving and life-sustaining needs. The Teen CERT Class includes all of the same training as the adult CERT Class, with an emphasis on how teens can help during an emergency at home and in their schools.

Vyto Adomaitis, Director of Neighborhood Services & Public Safety visited the class to thank them for their participation. “We are proud of the initiative of Goleta’s youth to receive important training in preparing for and responding to, major disasters and assisting their families and classmates,” said Adomaitis, Director of Neighborhood Services & Public Safety. “This is the core mission of CERT and an important priority for the City of Goleta.”

For more information, in English or Spanish, please contact Luz Reyes-Martin, Management Analyst in the Neighborhood Services and Public Safety Department at 961-7558.