Will all of FLOW have a CERT?
by Ryan “Robinson” Schwertfeger
Recently, several local high school students graduated from a training course which is catching fire across the country. In this program called CERT, or Community Emergency Response Team, members are trained and educated about what to do to help their community after a major disaster. The program first came about in 1985 in Los Angeles when the LAFD created the first CERT to help out if there was any local emergency, and in which more people were needed. Shortly after, the first CERT team faced a major task in helping their city through the Whittier Narrows Earthquake in 1987. The training of the local citizens greatly helped rescue and cleanup efforts and soon many other cities and towns decided to follow suit.
According to citizencorps.gov, “the CERT course will benefit any citizen who takes it. This individual will be better prepared to respond to and cope with the aftermath of a disaster. Additionally, if a community wants to supplement its response after a disaster, civilians can be recruited and trained as a neighborhood, business, and government teams that in essence, will be auxiliary responders”. Currently, according to the website, there are CERT programs in 28 states and in Puerto Rico that are ready to help their fellow citizens in the event of a disaster. While the Borough of Oakland is now considering creating a town-wide CERT, Indian Hills High School has already taken a giant step forward with creating a team.
In late 2011, Sophomore Nick Pruiksma, who is a Junior Firefighter in Oakland, approached Indian Hills Principal Al Evangelista and suggested the formation of a school wide CERT program. Working with Mr. Evangelista (who is also the OEM Coordinator of the Pompton Lakes Office of Emergency Management) and Juniors Brandon Degro and Doug Grasser (an Oakland Junior Firefighter and Junior Oakland First Aid Squad member, respectively) a team was soon formed. CERT interest meetings were held early in the school year and training classes soon followed afterwards. After talking to CERT Coordinator Doug Grasser about what the CERT’s role at IHHS, he said that “if there were a mass casualty or disaster event and emergency response was delayed, we would be activated and provide assistance until emergency personnel would arrive. We also provide standby medical assistance at school events and other response to different types of emergencies that we can respond to that are within our scope of knowledge.”
Two other members of the IHHS CERT also told me about their opinion about this new program:
“CERT lets students get a feel for how much they can impact their community by helping others before themselves.” –IHHS Junior Mike DiDonato
“CERT is a great way to learn how to help your community in case of a disaster or emergency. It is comforting knowing these skills and being confident that I can help my peers at any given time.” –IHHS Junior Matt Milich
After many hours of practice and drills, 21 IHHS students recently graduated on January 23rd 2012. On behalf of Oakland, Franklin Lakes, and Wyckoff residents, we thank these new CERT members for their time, dedication, and desire to serve our high school and our towns in this manner.
If you or someone you know would be interested in joining a CERT in your town, see if a program currently exists or is in the process of being formed. You can also click the attached file to fill out a registration form so you can start taking CERT classes. If you are an Indian Hills student, there is also another opportunity for you to join CERT as there is going to be a second training class coming up shortly.
As for the creation of a CERT in Oakland, I suggest that the Mayor and Council examine the IHHS program and talk to these fine men and women about the training, the reason they got involved, and what they think CERT could do for the town. I think that the formation of a CERT in Oakland would be extremely beneficial and with our recent disasters like the aftermath of Irene and the Halloween snowstorm, if there are more people willing to help our residents, I say go for it.
January 2012 IHHS CERT Graduates:
Andrew Della Iacono
Anjani Shah
Anthony Guerriero
Brandon Degro
Doug Grasser
Jack Maguire
James Traynor
Joe Quinlan
Ken Healey
Kevin Moese
Krysta Baron
Kyle Porro
Matt Lopez
Matt Milich
Mike DiDonato
Mike Piccoli
Molly Resto
Nick Pruiksma
Nicole “Frankie” Check
Rob Payton
Trevor Mild
That’s a very impressive number of participants at IHHS.
Oakland’s OEM coordinator Roy Bauberger spoke recently at a council meeting about the challenges of maintaining an active CERT team.
John Solomon (RIP) who was a journalist with a deep interest in CERT. InCaseOfEmergencyBlog.com, shared some good ideas he found through his research.
Getting a more holistic approach that involves schools, businesses, and religious communities involved in a citizen preparedness campaign would help a lot in dealing with the challenges detailed by Bauberger