Citizens get emergency training
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Instructor Wayne Whitelock of Calais, center, a chaplin with the Vermont State Police Peer Support Team, explains how to set up emergency road signs to a group of students during the Citizens Emergency Response Training at Barre Town School on Saturday. PHOTO BY JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR |
Toolbox
By Thatcher Moats Times Argus Staff - Published: April 5, 2009
BARRE TOWN – When floodwaters rage, trains derail or wind wreaks havoc on a town or city, residents often have a basic desire to lend a hand.
But if they don't know what they're doing, they can become part of the problem.
About 20 citizens gathered at the Barre Town Elementary and Middle School on Saturday so they can be part of the solution if disaster strikes and rescue crews are overwhelmed.
The residents were undergoing the first of three days of training so they can become members of Vermont's Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT.
CERT is a national program that has become more active and widespread since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The concept, however, was developed in California in the 1980s, and became popular there in part because of the state's earthquakes.
"Basically we're second responders," said CERT instructor Fred Messer. "We help out fire and ambulance when they get overwhelmed."
It's a waste of a valuable resources for a firefighter to direct traffic if there's something more specialized they could be doing, Messer pointed out.
"The idea is basically to free up first responders to do their job," said Messer.
The residents gathered Saturday will be responsible mostly for the Washington County area and parts of Orange County, said Messer, but their names would be in a statewide database and they could respond to a disaster anywhere in Vermont.
Citizens at the workshop will learn about suppressing small fires, disaster medical operations, and light search and rescue operations, among other things, said Messer.
Search and rescue can mean checking buildings.
"We've all seen in Katrina the big Xs on buildings," said Messer. "We learn how to do that."
The three days of training include two CERT training days and one day of training by the Red Cross, which will teach citizens basic first aid and CPR for adults, children and infants.
Each CERT member gets a backpack that contains a hard hat, along with a multi-use tool that resembles a hammer, but has other features that serve as a wrench for shutting off gas and water lines. It can also be used to pry open doors and dig through rubble. The pack also contains duct tape, gloves, goggles, a flashlight and a first-aid kit.
"It's all in one backpack so they can shoulder it and go," said Messer.
There are three or four active CERT teams throughout the state, said Messer. He said the local CERT team, which has existed since 2005, has never been deployed, though they were assembled two years ago when the Winooski River was threatening to flood Montpelier.
Other CERT teams in the state were deployed during the 2007 wind storm in Rutland County that flattened whole stands of trees and left thousands without power, and for the train derailment in downtown Middlebury in October 2007.
The Central Vermont ATV Club sponsored the training program that began this weekend and will continue next weekend.
Messer said there are no other CERT workshops scheduled, but if enough people are interested, he said he could organize one.
"If I can find a group of 10 or more who want to be qualified, I can put it together," said Messer.
Middlesex resident Norma Fleury, who works at the Good Samaritan Haven, a homeless shelter in Barre, said she has helped out during local disasters before, including the flood in Barre in 2007. She helped notify other residents and helped bring guests who were staying at the shelter up to the Barre Auditorium.
Being a CERT member will make her that much more useful during an emergency.
"If something happens in Barre, I'll be ready," said. "You can never know enough."
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