DuPage County officials are urging residents to register online to be trained as Citizen Corps volunteers to help with homeland security preparedness.
Volunteers will be trained to support first responders such as police and firefighters during a crisis. Although volunteers with medical experience are needed, officials say anyone older than 18 can serve during an emergency.
“After the attacks of Sept. 11, Americans were eager to help,” said Thomas Mefferd, director of the County’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “Citizens Corps was created for that very purpose.”
The goal is to have a pool of trained volunteers to deploy quickly if a disaster strikes. More than 600 DuPage residents already have registered.
Residents can register at www.citizencorpsdupage.org. After registering, volunteers will be contacted about training and certification, and may learn emergency-management skills such as first aid, emergency communications and response techniques.