The Bedford Community Emergency Response Team will graduate its first class of trained volunteers at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 7, at the Bedford Old Town Hall.

Twenty people participated in more than 20 hours of training over a four?week period to learn about triage, search and rescue, and fire suppression. Graduates represent all ages, from high school students to retirees, and backgrounds as diverse as nursing, marketing, writing, landscaping, property management and amateur radio operation. All wanted to be better-prepared personally and to give back to the community.

The CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations.

Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace after an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

A second training class is forming now. Interested parties should contact Ron Michaud, director of Bedford CERT, at 540-0182 or info@bedfordnhcert.org.