North Aurora offers disaster aid training

North Aurora wants more of its residents prepared to take care of themselves and others in case of disaster.

It is again offering an emergency response course in conjunction with the North Aurora and Countryside Fire Protection District.

It is the third time in a year the department will have the free class, said police Deputy Chief Scott Buziecki.

The class will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 8 to Oct. 20.

Participants must be at least 18 years old, or 16 if they have a parent's permission.

Those who complete the class successfully will be eligible to join the village's community emergency response team. The team formed last year. It has about 15 members, Buziecki said.

"They are good people that just want to get involved and serve their community," Buziecki said.

The team is part of the national volunteer Citizen Corps program. North Aurora's CERT team is asked to help during disasters, other emergencies (such as directing traffic at car accidents), and at planned events such as North Aurora Days. "They love coming to help at these kinds of events," Buziecki said.

However, people who take the course are not required to join the team. The purpose is to prepare people to take care of themselves at times when professional aid may be delayed or spread thinly.

The course will teach people basic disaster response skills. The topics are disaster preparedness; disaster fire suppression; disaster medical operations; light search and rescue operations; disaster psychology and team organization; and a disaster simulation.

Applications for the course can be picked up 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays at the North Aurora Police Department. They are also available at northaurora.org/forms.aspx.

For more information, call Buziecki at (630) 897-8705, ext. 752, or write to sbuziecki@northaurora.org.