Help Your Community, Get Awesome Training, At Spring 2026 CERT Class For Palos Residents

PALOS PARK, IL — If you want to help your community and get some awesome emergency training, the Palos Park Police Department is recruiting volunteers for a community emergency response team six-week class set to begin in Spring 2026.

CERT is a neighborhood-based team that receives special training to enhance their ability to recognize, respond to and recover from a major emergency or disaster situation. As an organized team, volunteers can provide vital services while waiting for the arrival of first responders, which could take several hours.

CERT volunteers are trained to respond safely, responsibly, and effectively to emergency situations, but they can also support their communities during non-emergency events as well. There are over 2,700 local CERT programs nationwide, with more than 600,000 individuals trained since CERT became a national program.

FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team Program trains volunteers to prepare for the types of disasters that their community may face. Through hands-on practice and realistic exercises.

Officer Frank Flores, of the Palos Park Police Department and a nationally recognized expert in emergency/disaster management, preparation, mitigation and recovery will lead classes.

The program will involve class sessions and a drill/practical exam, including six classes of approximately two-and-a-half hours and reading assignments. Also included are practical, table-top and team-building exercises.

Classes cover personal and family preparation and safety; recognizing and treating life-threatening and non-life threatening injuries; fire safety techniques; and light search and rescue operations.
Participants will learn how to:

• Assess situations and properly advise emergency responders when they arrive.
• Recognize the potential hazards associated with a particular type of event and take appropriate action.
• Take steps to get to safety and/or help others organize a safe path of escape;
• Help identify staging areas for operations and triage.
• Identify, organize and utilize local resources.
• Assist others with the emotional distress associated with major emergencies and disaster conditions.
• Administer First Aid and/or triage casualties.
• Perform needs assessments, document and communicate needs to local authorities.
• Support effective and efficient allocation of emergency resources.

The CERT classes will meet Wednesdays at the Palos Park Recreation Center, 8901 W 123rd St. from 7 to 10 p.m., at a start date TBD. To learn more about 2026 CERT training, email Ofcr. Flores at fflores@palospark.org.