Amherst prepares for next emergency
BY ED ADAMCZYK
TheAmherstRecord.com
Classes begin Jan. 22, to educate Amherst residents on disaster preparedness, and to provide training in basic disaster response skills.
The free, 20-hour program of study, run twice weekly over four weeks at the Harlem Road Community Center by the Town of Amherst Department of Emergency Services and Safety, will provide the town with a ?Community Emergency Response Team? of trained volunteers, ready to serve in crisis situations.
The CERT Program is part of a growing national trend of preparing and organizing residents to help their professional and volunteer emergency personnel in the event of local disasters ? the recent ?October Surprise? snowstorm a good example. The training in Amherst is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, through the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Border Community SERVICE (Special Emergency Response Volunteer Initiative for Community Education) of Niagara University.
Amherst?s program will include nine topics, covering disaster preparedness, fire safety, basic first aid, assessment and treatment skills, light search and rescue, team organization, disaster psychology, terrorism awareness and a hands-on disaster simulation as a final exercise. Every trainee receives full instructional materials, and a backpack of emergency supplies.
It is the second time the town has presented the program.
?We trained 22 people, in the last class? said coordinator Dominic Creamer, an Amherst firefighter for 11 years. ?This time, we?re ready for 30. A lot of the course is hands-on. We go at a slow pace, and everything is taught at an awareness level. It?s an excellent tool for the community to learn to take care of itself.?
The program has already paid dividends ? the previous class served the town during the October emergency, he said, ?with damage assessments of the parks, setting up shelters, and working with the American Red Cross to train people in shelter operations.?
The Department of Emergency Services and Safety has been in place since 1990, and director Jim Szymanek sees a great value in the CERT program.
?The more people we can get who know what to do in an emergency, the better off we are,? he said. ?The training was extremely beneficial in the recent emergency.?
The program provides Amherst with a database of residents who stand prepared and ready to help the town?s front-line fire, police, and emergency responders.
Szymanek says the Jan. 22 sessions will also be Amherst?s last until more funding can be found, and welcomes the involvement of local businesses and industries in setting up future CERT programs for their employees. The classes will be led by ten teachers, according to Creamer, ?all Amherst firefighters, the professionals who are taking care of you.?
Creamer described the final exercise of the program, a disaster simulation.
?Let?s say we have a bomb going off in a school,? he said. ?We have to worry about students, about patients, about parents, about disaster psychology. You have to know how to get organized and talk to everyone involved.?
?Trained community members are an incredible asset, and a great opportunity to be better prepared in a natural disaster,? said Border Community SERVICE Coordinator Nancy Blundell. ?They strengthen a community, and it pays to have trained volunteers who are also known to you, so it works on a personal and on a community-wide level.?
Not only does it serve the average citizen to be well-prepared, but CERT-trained people can work collectively to help of in an emergency.
Amherst?s CERT program is free, and enrollment precedence will be given to town residents. Training will be offered Mondays and Thursdays from Jan. 22 to Feb. 24, with a disaster simulation drill scheduled in the final class.
Additional information can be obtained by calling Dominic Creamer at 631-7004.
BY ED ADAMCZYK
TheAmherstRecord.com
Classes begin Jan. 22, to educate Amherst residents on disaster preparedness, and to provide training in basic disaster response skills.
The free, 20-hour program of study, run twice weekly over four weeks at the Harlem Road Community Center by the Town of Amherst Department of Emergency Services and Safety, will provide the town with a ?Community Emergency Response Team? of trained volunteers, ready to serve in crisis situations.
The CERT Program is part of a growing national trend of preparing and organizing residents to help their professional and volunteer emergency personnel in the event of local disasters ? the recent ?October Surprise? snowstorm a good example. The training in Amherst is funded by the Department of Homeland Security, through the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Border Community SERVICE (Special Emergency Response Volunteer Initiative for Community Education) of Niagara University.
Amherst?s program will include nine topics, covering disaster preparedness, fire safety, basic first aid, assessment and treatment skills, light search and rescue, team organization, disaster psychology, terrorism awareness and a hands-on disaster simulation as a final exercise. Every trainee receives full instructional materials, and a backpack of emergency supplies.
It is the second time the town has presented the program.
?We trained 22 people, in the last class? said coordinator Dominic Creamer, an Amherst firefighter for 11 years. ?This time, we?re ready for 30. A lot of the course is hands-on. We go at a slow pace, and everything is taught at an awareness level. It?s an excellent tool for the community to learn to take care of itself.?
The program has already paid dividends ? the previous class served the town during the October emergency, he said, ?with damage assessments of the parks, setting up shelters, and working with the American Red Cross to train people in shelter operations.?
The Department of Emergency Services and Safety has been in place since 1990, and director Jim Szymanek sees a great value in the CERT program.
?The more people we can get who know what to do in an emergency, the better off we are,? he said. ?The training was extremely beneficial in the recent emergency.?
The program provides Amherst with a database of residents who stand prepared and ready to help the town?s front-line fire, police, and emergency responders.
Szymanek says the Jan. 22 sessions will also be Amherst?s last until more funding can be found, and welcomes the involvement of local businesses and industries in setting up future CERT programs for their employees. The classes will be led by ten teachers, according to Creamer, ?all Amherst firefighters, the professionals who are taking care of you.?
Creamer described the final exercise of the program, a disaster simulation.
?Let?s say we have a bomb going off in a school,? he said. ?We have to worry about students, about patients, about parents, about disaster psychology. You have to know how to get organized and talk to everyone involved.?
?Trained community members are an incredible asset, and a great opportunity to be better prepared in a natural disaster,? said Border Community SERVICE Coordinator Nancy Blundell. ?They strengthen a community, and it pays to have trained volunteers who are also known to you, so it works on a personal and on a community-wide level.?
Not only does it serve the average citizen to be well-prepared, but CERT-trained people can work collectively to help of in an emergency.
Amherst?s CERT program is free, and enrollment precedence will be given to town residents. Training will be offered Mondays and Thursdays from Jan. 22 to Feb. 24, with a disaster simulation drill scheduled in the final class.
Additional information can be obtained by calling Dominic Creamer at 631-7004.