"Ideally, we would like to have CERT in every community on Kaua'i," said Kaua'i Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste. "Having been through two hurricanes, Iwa and Iniki, and seeing what happened in the aftermath of other disasters, we know the importance of emergency preparedness."

During the past week, Baptiste met with community members who completed the CERT training and talked about the importance of the CERT program in the bigger picture of community actualization.

He explained that he would like to continue to build upon the foundation laid through the Ka Leo O Kaua'i program and focus on strengthening communities by developing volunteer teams and organizations including: CERT; Adopt a Park; Graffiti Busters; Medical Reserve Corps; neighborhood associations; Neighborhood Watch; Problem Oriented Police Patrol (POPP), Volunteers in Police Service (VIP); and Waele A Ola Hou.

At the same meeting, Kaua'i Fire Chief Robert Westerman discussed the fire department's role in the CERT program, and Laura Bernard with Kaua'i Team Challenge led the group in team-building exercises.

The CERT program is designed to train citizens how to help themselves, their families, and neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster before emergency personnel arrive.

Among the topics that will be covered in future training sessions are the following – disaster preparedness, fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, organization of CERT, disaster psychology, and terrorism awareness.