Area Residents Train for Emergency Response

The Norton and Mansfield Emergency Management Agencies conducted a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training course and mock drill recently at Mansfield EMA Headquarters. Thirteen residents from the two towns graduated from the program.

The CERT training program was developed to raise awareness of emergency preparedness and train residents to help themselves, their family and their neighborhood during times of emergencies when first responders may be over-burdened. Both Norton and Mansfield EMA’s have been holding CERT training classes semi annually since 2002 and have trained several hundred residents in the skills.

“The course is nine two-hour sessions that consist of presentations and practical exercises,” explained Ray Cord, Norton EMA Deputy director.

These sessions consisted of CERT organization, emergency preparedness, disaster psychology, terrorism, medical operations (triage and treatment), search and rescue, HazMat precautions and fire suppression. The final exercise was a mock drill to put in practice what they had learned.  

Captain Shawn Simmons of Norton Fire Rescue and Colonel David Gavigan of Bristol County Sheriffs Office helped teach the course while MEMA and NEMA volunteers portrayed victims in the mock drill.

Part of the training that the teams receive is in the Incident Command System. This is the management structure that all first responders operate under. This allows CERT members to meld into an incident and free up the first responders, by doing lesser tasks that are distracting them from the primary emergency.

During the drill, which was a simulated tornado in the area, students divided into teams representing fire suppression, search and rescue, medical and transportation. An incident commander was chosen to lead the exercise, as was a safety officer to insure adherence to safety rules and the buddy system.

The incident commander did a size up of the situation and found that the building was secure enough for the first responders to conduct their search of the interior of the building. The search and rescue team started searching for victims. When the team entered the building, they heard “victims” screaming and crying in pain. They triaged the victims and categorized them as walking wounded, immediate treatment and delayed treatment. The victims were taken to the respective areas for treatment. The transportation officer made note of the injuries, kept count of the number of victims and their destinations. The safety officer also made sure the building was still secure and that all personnel were accounted for. After the last victim was removed from the building the incident commander checked that all personnel from the four teams were accounted for and there were no victims left in the building. The incident commander then closed the building from further access, command was terminated and the mock drill concluded. The candidates then were dispatched to the classroom for the graduation ceremony.  

Mansfield EMA director Robert Button congratulated the new CERT team members for their perseverance. Cord presented them with certificates from the agencies and Lt. David Cramer, Mansfield EMA operations officer, presented each graduate a CERT backpack with the basic supplies they will need when an emergency strikes. Instructor and EMT Brandon Prinzo urged them to build on the kit and be ready when Mother Nature comes to call.

The graduates were Edward Benson, Sujan Bajrachrya, Robert Boller, Joseph Choiniere, Mark Fay, Jordan Gale, Amberley Koharsic, Scott Langlands, Christopher Mantia, Christopher Metrano, Drew Meyers, Margaret Myers and Michael Papagno.

“They all got very high marks on the final written exam and did very well in the mock disaster drill,” Cord said.

Both agencies encouraged any graduates who want to become more involved in Emergency Management and formal CERT teams to apply for a membership. Ongoing training is offered throughout the year to CERT members in shelter operations, CPR, advanced first aid, crowd control, emergency operations center functions, lost child search, communications and large scale event staging.

The course is available online at www.citizencorps.gov/cert. People may also have access to a full multi media library of preparedness information at www.ready.gov.

For more information on the CERT program or emergency preparedness, contact Ray Cord, 508-734-1208, raycord@aol.com or Lt. David Cramer, 508-261-9541, NHDC@aol.com.