Team earns gold preparing for disasters
MSU Extension Service employees Vivian Cade and Jason Ward, both members of MSU’s Campus Community Emergency Response Team, take an inventory of supplies in their emergency backpacks on Sept. 19. The two were part of an eight-member team named as the overall winner of the Mississippi CERT Olympic competition last summer. PHOTO: Linda Breazeale | MSU Ag Communications
They are not students and do not compete on a field, court or track, but Mississippi State University has a team with Olympic-sized skills that will come in handy after a disaster.
While September is National Preparedness Month, MSU’s Campus Community Emergency Response Team has been training for months, hoping their skills are never needed. Last summer, MSU hosted the Mississippi CERT Olympics, which provided nine teams and 110 participants the chance to earn gold, silver and bronze awards.
Ryan Akers, coordinator and leader of the MSU team, said eight of the 24 faculty and staff members on the MSU CERT took part in the competition. The CERT Olympic competition was facilitated by the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security and Mississippi Citizen Corps.
“MSU CERT was declared the overall winner of the Olympic competition and also earned five gold medals, two silvers and one bronze in team skill assessments,” he said. “The contests focused on 10 areas, such as fire safety, hazmat awareness, disaster preparedness, search and rescue, grid searches, medical operation and triage.”
Akers, an assistant Extension professor in the MSU School of Human Sciences, said the competition gives all the teams an opportunity to practice their skills and see how they measure up to others. Other teams came from communities across Mississippi. The Campus-CERT from Jackson State University also competed.
Jason Ward, assistant Extension professor in agriculture and biological engineering, said the Olympic competition was a good chance for the team to test its skills.
“The competition made us push ourselves to go faster and make sure we did everything correctly,” he said.
Ward has been on the team a couple of years. He had previous training in first aid, but most of the other skills came through state CERT training and monthly campus team meetings.
“The team helps me personally prepare for a disaster as well as be ready to help others if and when a need arises,” he said. “The search and rescue part is a favorite aspect for me because it would be such an important opportunity to help other people. Luckily, we have not been deployed as a team on campus yet.”
Before the competition, team members took part in skill and professional development programs. In addition to Ward, members of the MSU team included T.J. Bradford, Vivian Cade, Dixie Cartwright, Brent Crocker, Carolyn Huntington, Jack Purser and Jason Townsend.
The MSU CERT and similar teams across the state are developed by the Mississippi Citizen Corps, which is coordinated nationally by the Department of Homeland Security.
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Linda Breazeale | MSU Ag Communications
