Aug 3, 2007
Majesky takes the reins of Wilton CERT, now 57 members strong
|
When emergencies strike, police, firefighters and medical personnel are often stretched to their limits as they attend to the problem at hand. In the wake of disaster, community volunteers often step in to help any way they can. Sometimes this help causes more harm than good, though, as citizens are not trained and get in the way.
This led the Los Angeles Fire Department to develop a community emergency response team in 1985. The concept behind CERT is to train citizens to be able to take care of themselves and their families when disaster occurs, instead of relying on community services for help.
Wilton’s chapter of CERT was created following 9/11, when then First Selectman Paul Hannah commissioned the town’s constables, both Republican and Democrat, to see if there was an emergency preparedness group that could be put together.
“This is exactly what Paul was trying to put together,” said Jack Majesky, the newly named head of CERT, of where it stands today.
Members of CERT go through extensive training where they are versed in first aid, CPR, defibrillator training, search and rescue, small fire suppression, and the psychology of terrorism, according to Mr. Majesky.
“The hope in the CERT training is to know your limitations,” said Christopher Gardner, one of the town’s constables and a member of CERT. This way, volunteers may provide effective assistance while maintaining their own safety, he said.
“The federal government wants people to be able to protect themselves, not be a victim, care for themselves, their family, their neighbors, and their community,” Mr. Majesky said.
Mr. Gardner said Wilton police rely on CERT to help control crowds during events like parades and use the group to help direct traffic, among other assignments.
“We stand outside in the winter when a tree is down, replacing the necessity of a police officer” having to redirect traffic, Mr. Gardner said.
“It’s been a wonderful program,” Police Captain Michael Lombardo said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “From a police standpoint, they’ve been very helpful.”
Mr. Lombardo said CERT members are quick to respond to police requests.
This October, Nursing & Home Care will be running a flu drill, giving flu shots to more than 600 people to see if it can handle the crowds if a pandemic flu outbreak occurred. CERT will be there, helping control the crowds and direct traffic.
Although major catastrophes aren’t the norm for Wilton, CERT members are prepared in case the unthinkable does occur here. When a house needed to be demolished, instead of using a wrecking ball, CERT burned it down in order to train its members on how to suppress fires and rescue potential victims.
“There was a big drill in Norwalk,” Mr. Majesky said. CERT teams from Norwalk, Wilton, Westport, Weston, New Canaan, and Vista, N.Y., attended a “mock Metro-North train derailment” where volunteers checked people in and out, making sure that if someone went in to assist, they were accounted for.
“We also staged a mock plane crash in Allen’s Meadow,” he said.
“They do have enough knowledge that they can help each of those services,” Mr. Gardner said of CERT members helping police, firefighters, and medical personnel.
Dick Ziegler, a constable, founded Wilton CERT, but recently stepped down due to work demands. He passed the torch to Mr. Majesky, who has been at the helm for about six months.
“I just felt here’s a guy that knew about CERT and supported us a great deal,” Mr. Ziegler said. “I felt it was time to get someone else in there, a fresh face. I thought it was the right time to step back and get some others to run the show.”
Mr. Ziegler, who still serves as an adviser and volunteer for CERT, said Mr. Majesky seemed an excellent fit for the job.
“It’s a good thing,” Mr. Majesky said of CERT. “It’s trying to make people better prepared for disaster.”
Both Mr. Majesky and Mr. Gardner said they hope to get more volunteers involved with CERT. Although 57 members is a sizable amount, because CERT is strictly volunteer based, sometimes getting people to come out is difficult.
“We’re all volunteers, working during the day, and we’ve got families,” said Mr. Majesky. As membership in CERT increases, so too does the ease of getting volunteers out at any given time, he said.
“The more people we have, the sooner we’ll be available to take over” emergency situations, Mr. Majesky said.
“We’re not there to replace them, we’re there to augment them,” Mr. Gardner said of the town’s police force.
CERT responds every time there is a downed power line or a big car accident. Sometimes it takes up to six hours for a power line to be replaced, according to Mr. Gardner.
“We’re constantly looking for assistance,” Mr. Majesky said. CERT holds registration two times a year, with an event scheduled this coming fall.
“We’ve had some people take the classes and go no further,” Mr. Gardner said. “This isn’t the best, but at least they can take care of their families” more thoroughly without the direct assistance of municipal services.
Information: wiltoncert.org.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
|
