After their final training drill, and even between exercises, the class of Snoqualmie Valley CERT trainees were relaxed and chatty. From the official start to the official stop of each task, though, they each underwent a terse transformation.

Lorrie Jones of Snoqualmie surprised herself by taking point in a drill to “rescue” a dummy trapped under a tractor tire. “OK, let’s go,” she told her team, men and women from Snoqualmie, North Bend or Fall City, but they didn’t need much direction.

At each station, the same thing happened. Ordinary community members were being ordinary, until they were faced with an emergency.

CERT, or Citizen Emergency Response Team, training is for anyone who wants to learn how to better prepare themselves for an emergency or who wants to help their communities get through a flood, earthquake, extended power outage or other crisis.

Gerald Farley of North Bend took the training just to be more prepared he said, and because “It’s never going to happen when you want it to happen.”

Julie Stephen, left, and Stacy Parker work as a team to extinguish a small fire. Below, another trainee puts out the blaze.

A CERT trainee checks on accident victims pulled from a mock explosion. The victims, Adam Rogers and Vishnu Rathnam, were volunteer Scouts, made up with bruises, burns, and for the enterprising Rogers, his own severed arm. Scouts acted as victims for triage and search and rescue.

A group of rescuers prepares to free a dummy, trapped by a  fallen tire.

Instructors Dee Williamson and firefighter Rocky Martinez debrief the CERT class on their final training drill, answering questions, and providing information on how those interested can further their training.