SCC Begins Community Emergency Response Team Training

Employees Begin Volunteer Training to Help Their Communities,
Coworkers & Families

Trenton, NJ (February 24, 2004) - SCC staff is at the forefront of Governor McGreevey’s a call for volunteers to receive training in becoming a member of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). The concept is pretty simple: the program is about citizens becoming trained in basic techniques to help other citizens when it might matter most. Unfortunately, emergencies do and will occur from terrorism or natural disasters to lost or kidnapped children. Volunteers are the backbone to emergency response, but they need to be trained and organized ahead of time in order to be effective in assisting the emergency personnel that initially arrive on the scene.

State employees provide a ready pool of publicly spirited individuals that can be trained to assist their co-workers and their communities in the event of disaster. By providing emergency training to them, it is envisioned that individuals will be better prepared to protect themselves, their families, co-workers and communities in the event of an emergency. They can also play a vital role in support of the first responders to an emergency.

Firefighter Scott Loh, Mercer County Fire Academy, discusses fire safety in the workplace and in the home.

The training is designed to provide a hands on approach to such critical areas as elementary first aid and basic fire suppression. It is not designed to supplant fire or police personnel, just to provide a solid resource for them in the event of an emergency. The 20 hours of training is broken into 8 segments based on the core FEMA course offered throughout the country. The Governor and the Commissioner of the Department of Personnel will allow for state employees to undergo the training during the workday at their offices.

There is more information on the CERT program at www.citizencorps.gov and the training component at www.fema.gov. Also at http://www.ready.gov, there is helpful information for planning to keep your family safe in the event of a disaster.

 

 

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