Region 7
Carol Sjursen has been actively involved with CERT since 2003 and currently serves as the volunteer CERT Program Manager for the Deerfield Beach CERT Team, a position she has held since 2010. Under her leadership, the Deerfield Beach CERT Team was recognized by the Florida CERT Association with the 2012 State CERT Team of the Year Award.
Carol Sjursen has been actively involved with CERT since 2003 and currently serves as the volunteer CERT Program Manager for the Deerfield Beach CERT Team, a position she has held since 2010. Under her leadership, the Deerfield Beach CERT Team was recognized by the Florida CERT Association with the 2012 State CERT Team of the Year Award.
Carol began attending the Florida CERT Association Conferences in 2004, and has served on their Board of Directors representing CERT members in Region 7 since 2013. Carol served for 4 years (2016-2019) as the Association’s Vice President and for 2 years (2020 and 2021) as the Association’s President.
With an undergraduate degree in teaching, Carol loves being in front of a classroom. She has developed and taught numerous CERT classes, not only for the Deerfield Beach CERT Team, but for other teams in Broward County as well as at the State Conferences. She is Train the Trainer and Program Manager certified at the EMI Local Level, and is also a Stop the Bleed instructor.
Carol is involved with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) as the Assistant Emergency Coordinator and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) where she serves as the Broward County RACES Officer. In times of disaster, these organizations serve Broward County Emergency Management by providing emergency communications through amateur “ham” radios should normal means of communications fail.
To keep skills sharp as a communicator, Carol has assisted with behind-the-scenes communications for numerous events such as the Miami Marathon and helps organize and participates in Amateur Radio Field Day where communications are made under simulated emergency conditions. She serves as the Communications Chair for The Winterfest Boat Parade, where she is a part of the Unified Command Staff and oversees the ham radio operators along the 12 mile parade route.
In addition to her many volunteer organizations, Carol is a full-time Realtor® in the South Florida market.
In 2010, the Fire Chiefs’ Association of Broward County presented Carol with the Broward County CERT Member of the Year Award. In 2012, Carol was recognized as the State CERT Member of the Year by the Florida CERT Association.
Carol has a passion for helping others and continues to serve and help those in need. After Hurricane Wilma, the Deerfield Beach CERT Team helped set up the POD in the City where CERT provided water and ice to close to 1,000 vehicles per hour. Carol responded to the Parkland Shootings, deployed to the Panhandle following Hurricane Michael, deployed to the Surfside building collapse, deployed to Fort Myers following Hurricane Ian, and, most recently, assisted after the Fort Lauderdale floods. In addition to deploying following disasters, Carol keeps busy providing canteen services to First Responders in Broward County.
Carol was recently interviewed by Miami’s WSVN Channel 7 and was featured in the WSVN Spotlight as well as their annual Hurricane Special.
Carol has her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She believes that training is critical to the success of any organization, and has continued to take advanced certification classes so that she can continue to train others. She abides by the Shirley Chisholm quote, “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”