All posts by Guttenberg CERT

Fall CERT Basic Training Class, Sign Up Now

The Guttenberg Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be holding it’s fall basic training class for new members.  Please sign up now if you’d like to join this class, as the class will be limited to on 15 applicants.  To apply, please send an email to Recruit@GuttenbergCERT.org

The CERT Basic Training class will provide you with training on First Aid, Light Search & Rescue, Disaster Counseling, and how to put out small fires.  Additionally, the course will help prepare you so you can educate your family and friends on how to prepare for any disasters, and what to do in such a situation.

The training is free, and is open to anyone.  The training may save your life, the lives of your family, and friends and neighbors.  If you know anyone who would be interested, please share this with them.  Join a group of dedicated volunteers willing to help their neighbors during times of crisis.

Accepting Registration for Points of Distribution (PODs) Training

We will be hosting a class on Points of Distribution (PODs) on June 6th, at 6:30 pm.  The training will be held at Guttenberg Town Hall, Emergency Management Room (1st Floor) at 6808 Park Avenue, Guttenberg, NJ 07093.  The class will be taught by Monique Davis from the Hudson County Health Commission.

The class emphasizes the importance of being prepared to take care of citizens in the aftermath of a disaster – specifically when it comes to the distribution of life-sustaining supplies to survivors.

Points of Distribution (PODs) are centralized locations where the public picks up life-sustaining commodities following a disaster or emergency and are designed to accommodate vehicle, pedestrian and mass transit traffic. Commodities can include, but are not limited to, food, bottled water, and limited amounts of ice, tarps and blankets.

Plans should include: well-trained local personnel and/or volunteers; pre-determined locations and layouts; preliminary agreements with contractors; estimates on the amount of supplies needed; and an estimated “burn rate” or amount of commodities needed per day.

This course in particular will focus especially on distribution of medication needed during a biological outbreak.  It will review the six Category A agents as identified by the CDC:  Anthrax, Botulism, Plague, Smallpox, Tularemia, and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, and a description of Points of Distribution (POD) sites, which will be stood up to distribute preventative medication or administer vaccines to exposed people who are not yet symptomatic.

If you would like to register, please contact Kevin.Wu@GuttenbergCERT.org

Reminder: General Meeting Next Wednesday & Shelter Training Following Tuesday

Please note we have two events coming up:

A mandatory General Meeting next week on Wednesday, 4/19/17, at 6:30 pm

Shelter Fundamentals Training (for anyone who hasn’t taken it yet) on the following Tuesday, 4/25 at 6:00 pm.

Both events will be held at Guttenberg Town Hall, on the first floor in the back Emergency Management Room.

Look forward to seeing everyone.  For the General Meeting, please feel free to invite family and friends to introduce them to CERT.

Please let me know (if you haven’t already) if you are attending (and if you are bringing guests), so I know how much pizza to order for those nights.

New CERT Graduates Recognized by Guttenberg Mayor & Town Council

On April 10th, the Mayor and Town Council recognized the eight newest CERT graduates for completing their certification training.  The eight graduates are Jason Aydelott, Zenobia Gray, Robert Haase, William Hokien, Soheila Kobler, Michael Millerick, Erick Paredes, and Nicholas Sengotta.  Also present for the ceremony were Detective Joseph Keselica, Director of Public Safety Joel Magenheimer, and OEM Coordinator Richard Delafuente.  Mayor Gerald Drasheff, Councilman Alfonso “Al” Caso, Councilwoman Monica Fundora, Councilman John D. Habermann, and Councilman Wayne Zitt were also present.

Shelter Fundamentals Class – Please Register Now

We will be hosting a Shelter Fundamentals Course, which is taught by the American Red Cross (description below) on Tuesday, April 25th, at 6:00 pm.  The training will take place at Guttenberg Town Hall.

Shelter Fundamentals is a basic level course that introduces the guidelines and procedures for setting up, running and closing a shelter during a disaster. Referencing shelter checklists, participants will work on a case study that takes them through four of the six phases of the Sheltering Cycle: Opening, Organizing, Operating and Closing.

This is a necessary training for our team, as it will teach you everything you need to know to work in a shelter, should our town activate one.  For those interested in taking the Shelter Management class, you will need to take this as a prerequisite.

Please let me know if you would like to attend, so I can add you to the list of registrants.  Please note that I will be emailing all registrants a one page form the American Red Cross requires completed as well.

To register, please email Kevin.Wu@GuttenbergCERT.org

Guttenberg CERT is recruiting for our 5/13 & 5/20 Training Class!

Guttenberg CERT is recruiting for our 5/13 & 5/20 Training Class!

The classes are taught over two full days, on Saturdays, on May 13th & May 20th, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

You will learn First Aid, Light Search & Rescue, Light Disaster Psychology, and other skills necessary during a disaster.

Most of all, you will make new friends in the community, other like-minded people with a desire to volunteer and help others!

Everyone is welcome to join, whether you live in Guttenberg, North Bergen,  or West New York.

For more information, please visit our website at www.GuttenbergCERT.org

Please contact Recruitment@GuttenbergCERT.org for more details, to join, or sign up for our training classes.

Guttenberg CERT General Meeting, Wednesday, April 19th at 6:30 pm

Please join us April 19th, Wednesday, at 6:30 pm for the Guttenberg CERT General Meeting at Guttenberg Town Hall.

All members are asked to attend, as well as anyone interested in CERT and want to find more information about the program.

In addition, we will be updating you on a number of items, issues, dates, and information about Guttenberg CERT, including the upcoming Spring CERT Training Course in May.

We’ll also be discussing about Traffic Control & Crowd Control Management as our discussion topic, and teaching everyone on how to do both.

Guttenberg CERT Announces CERT Training Classes

We will be conducting a training and refresher courses for both new members and current members (who want to refresh their training).

Please note that you need to complete all modules to attain certification.  If you are unable to attend any modules, please let Kevin know.

If you would like to join and attend the class, please email Recruitment@GuttenbergCERT.org

Class Schedule:

  • Wednesday, 11/09/16, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Modules 1 & 2, Disaster Preparedness & Fire Safety
  • Wednesday, 11/16/16, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Modules 3 & 4, Disaster Medical Operations Parts 1 & 2, & CPR Training
    Wednesday, 11/30/16, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Modules 3 & 4 Continued Disaster Medical Operations Parts 1 & 2
  • Wednesday, 12/07/16, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Module 5 & 6, Light Search and Rescue & CERT Organization
  • Wednesday, 12/14/16, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Modules 7 & 8, Disaster Psychology & Terrorism and CERT
  • Saturday, 12/17/16, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm – Training Exercises

Guttenberg C.E.R.T. Honored by Town Council

 CERT Award Ceremony 042715b CJV9_05guttcouncil03_SIDEBAR3
(Photos Courtesy of Police Investigator Joseph Keselica)

Guttenberg C.E.R.T. was honored at a recent Guttenberg Town Council meeting on April 27, 2015.  Read below to see the article in the North Bergen Reporter, a publication of the Hudson Reporter.

Emergency response volunteers honored
CERT Award Ceremony 042715a
(Photo Source:  Hudson Reporter)

Also honored at the meeting were eight volunteer members of the town’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

“If we’re faced with a major emergency in town – a Sandy incident, a major blackout, a major fire, anything like that – the personnel resources in town, the police, the town staff, are going to be overwhelmed,” said Mayor Gerald Drasheff. “These volunteers are the people who we’ll be calling on to help us out with that. They’ve gotten some basic training in emergency response. For instance if we had to open a shelter in the school because of a major fire, these are the people we would be calling on and relying on to help us to do that.”

Police Investigator Joseph Keselica, who trained the eight individuals, added, “These are a group of citizens that stepped forward and really want to make a difference in the town they live in. They want to better the town.”

The eight CERT residents are Richard Delafuenze, Benjamin Jimenez, Melissa Lazo, Delores Loppe, Juana Malave, Marisol Montanez, Sandra Salazar, and Friederick A. Vialet. The group elected Montanez as incident commander and Salazar as alternate incident commander.

Read more at Hudson Reporter

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