The Coconino County Sheriff's Office is hosting Community Response Disaster Training (CERT) to prepare community members for disasters. The series of trainings began on Monday, March 2 and will continue through Wednesday, March 4. The Sheriff's Office has also partnered with CERT to host such courses monthly in Northern Arizona. John Paxton, Community Program Planner and director of these training sessions, said the goal of CERT is to prepare everyone for an unexpected disaster and to act as a support role for the community before emergency responders arrive.

CERT training is open to all community members. Navajo resident Randy White said he wants to help his community because emergency response takes a long time to arrive in remote areas of the Navajo Reservation. Additionally, detention officers in training, like Bradley Bartell, are required to take this training because they may use these skills in their future jobs. Contact the Coconino County Sheriff's Office for more information or to schedule the next training.