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.

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

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.