Disaster-readiness classes in Spanish start soon

Auburn will become the first city in King County to offer community emergency-response team (CERT) classes in Spanish.

Last month, the city received a $10,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security through the King County Office of Emergency Management.

More than 100 people have graduated from the city's CERT classes over the past year, and the grant will allow it to offer Spanish-speaking classes to residents of Auburn, Pacific and Algona through the White River Valley Citizen Corps Council.

The city partners with the council to oversee disaster-preparedness training in the Auburn region.

Instructors from Auburn Emergency Management and the Valley Regional Fire Authority teach the classes with translators.

The 24 hours of training occurs over several weeks. The program will train up to 30 Spanish speakers, with preference given to those who live in Auburn, Pacific and Algona.

Council officials hope that Spanish speakers trained in the first course will become instructors. That would eliminate the need for translators.

The grant will pay for printing of Spanish CERT materials; the federal government paid for translation.

"We have a large Spanish-speaking population here, and at least a chunk of that population has expressed an interest in disaster preparedness," Sarah Miller, Auburn's emergency-preparedness manager, said. "There will always be people in our area that do not speak English, whether they are residents or people visiting. In a time of disaster we need as many methods of communication as we can find."

Last December's snow storm, which caused several deaths and left nearly 500,000 residents without power for days, spurred the city to take on this project.

"There was a huge lesson learned from the wind storm last year," said Jaime Quick, communications specialist for the King County Office of Emergency Management. "We are delighted to see Auburn's efforts and hope other districts will see this and run with it."

Anyone interested in CERT training for Spanish speakers should call 253-876-1925. The course is expected to begin in December or January.

Jordan Dawson is news assistant for SE Living: 253-234-8601 or jdawson@seattletimes.com.