The Chatham Emergency Management Agency put local residents to the test.
Courtney Cunningham says, "We really want to teach the residents of Chatham County how to take care of themselves if there is ever a natural disaster in this area."
The residents are part of the Community Emergency Response Team, volunteers that take a twenty hour course on how to respond to an emergency. The volunteers got a chance to learn some new skills and even put out a couple of fires.
Mike Reinegger said, "We teach you practical experience, not just book knowledge. You can read a book all day long but can you apply what you learned."
Officials from the Savannah Fire Department say this is one of the most important things that they do...teach regular people how to act in an emergency situation.
Joseph Bandy from the Savannah Fire Department says, "Our mission is to provide education to the citizens, provide for their safety. It's something that we love doing."
Volunteers also learned basic disaster medical operations and search and rescue techniques.
Courtney Cunningham says, "People have gone missing and we really don't have search and rescue resources that we need so we're teaching the CERT volunteers how to do appropriate searches."
The hope is that every Chatham resident will take part in the program. It could save their lives and those around them.
