Brookline CERT: Congrats to David Wihl on running the Marathon!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Congrats to David Wihl on running the Marathon!

Congrats to David Wihl, CERT 1, for running the Boston Marathon. Despite the driving rain, cold temps and high winds, David finished in an amazing 4:44. He was comforted to know that his fellow CERT members were manning the warming shelters along Beacon Street in case he needed them. Way to go, David!

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History of CERT

The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. They recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster. Accordingly, LAFD decided that some basic training in disaster survival and rescue skills would improve the ability of citizens to survive until responders or other assistance could arrive. The Whitter Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet immediate emergency needs. The training program that the LAFD initiated proved to be so beneficial that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) felt that the concept and the program should be made available to communities nationwide. In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards. In 2003, President Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country. The Citizens Corps program was created to spearhead this effort to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds. CERT was selected as one of the primary programs offered to the American public to meet this challenge. Following the September 11th, 2001 attacks on our nation, the Brookline Emergency Management Team began working to address the domestic preparedness needs of our community. Recognizing that community involvement was essential in our fight against terrorism, the EMT began recruitment for community volunteers who would be willing to assist the Town’s emergency workers during a major event. In November 2003, the EMT applied for a Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) grant to start a CERT Program and provide advanced training to the volunteers. In January 2004, the EMT was awarded $5,000 to start the CERT Program and program development was underway. In March 2004, the first CERT Training Program began with 20 community members. A second program was run in the winter of 2005 for 10 additional community members and a third class of 20 members was trained in Spring 2006. The American Red Cross has been extremely involved in the development and delivery of the Brookline CERT curriculum and has assisted the Team in identifying appropriate shelter locations throughout the Town. The CERT Team continues to meet regularly to refresh their training and continue preparedness planning. Some of the ongoing training programs that have been offered in the last year have included: Avian Flu Pandemic, Emergency Dispensing Sites, Intro to WMDs, and the recently developed MBHSR P3 Terrorism Awareness Training. The skills developed in these trainings will enable CERT volunteers to assist emergency personnel during a major event – a critical asset to the community and the Metro-Boston region. Brookline’s 50 CERT volunteers will provide an additional asset to the region in a time when the availability of resources will be strained. By training and educating the community in how to protect themselves, assist their neighbors in a crisis and identify potential threats, the CERT program truly furthers our ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from a terrorist attack or other major incident in the region.

Brookline CERT

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Congrats to David Wihl on running the Marathon!

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