The Oyate Teca Project on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation held a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training course on April 14, 15 and 16, at its Oyate Ta Kola Ku Community Center to prepare Pine Ridge residents to help themselves and others in the event of a catastrophic disaster.
Topics covered included disaster preparedness, disaster medical operations, fire safety and utility controls, light search and rescue operations, and more. The CERT instructor was Harold Tiger and was held in collaboration with Partnership With Native Americans.
Oyate Teca director Rose Fraser reported that 30 Pine Ridge residents, and all the OTKK staff, were certified and now have the basic skills of what to do in a disaster when emergency services are not available.
