After handling the mass of people who steamed through Weehawken after the World Trade Center tragedy two years ago, then after the great Blackout of 2003 last month, Weehawken officials realized that times of crisis call for special help.
That’s why they have officially adopted the Civilian Emergency Response Training (CERT) program, a nationwide effort by the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the first initiative signed into law by President Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Beginning next month, officials from both the Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Rescue Squad and the Weehawken Police Department’s Office of Emergency Management will join forces to teach a 16-hour course, free of charge, which will enable residents to know what to do in the face of a major emergency.
The whole theory behind the CERT program stems from the Los Angeles Police and Fire Department, which called for additional help in dealing with the massive Northridge earthquake in January of 1994.
“Every emergency service was overwhelmed by that earthquake, in trying to help as many people as possible,” said Jeff Welz, the director of public safety for Weehawken. “The LAPD and LAFD determined that if the general public had the basic knowledge about emergency techniques, then it could cut down on the amount of time spent responding to basic calls. That’s where the program began.”
Added Welz, “After 9/11, a lot of other municipalities initiated the program throughout the country. We felt that we needed something like this in Weehawken.”
Last month, Sgt. Pat Cannon of the Weehawken Police Department and the deputy coordinator of the department’s Office of Emergency Management, and Lt. Giovanni Ahmad of the Volunteer First Aid Rescue Squad, attended a two-day seminar at the New Jersey State Police headquarters in Sea Girt in order to become certified CERT instructors.
“The main focus is teaching people how to self-sustain in case of an emergency,” Cannon said. “If there’s a catastrophe that is widespread and the emergency medical services are overwhelmed, the normal calls for service increase. With this training, people can self-sustain for a while and take the burden of the emergency services until the help finally arrives.”
Cannon said that the CERT class will teach basic first aid, like the application of bandages and the treatment of certain cuts and burns. There are also the basics of fire prevention and extinguishing what is termed “light fire suppression.” The class will also teach basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as well as basic search and rescue in a collapsed building setting.
“It’s all part of the national curriculum established by FEMA,” Cannon said.
The plan is also to then get the CERT graduates to form an emergency services CERT team, to be on call in case of an emergency to help out with certain tasks.
“If you have these trained people who can handle their own problems, then it frees up so many to do other things,” Welz said. “We’re providing the training free of charge and the person is free to do whatever they want with the training. But if there are people who want to assist us in a time of need, then that’s great too.”
Added Welz, “Weehawken is a community of people who want to help out. It was evident during the blackout, when people were out on their own offering assistance, like directing traffic and helping people along the Boulevard [East] and the waterfront. We can then take the CERT training and turn it into a CERT team, and they would become the people we would call upon in the face of an emergency, like the blackout or the possibility of a hurricane like what happened this week.”
Welz said that after the 16-hour training, the graduate would have all the basic skills necessary to help in an emergency situation.
“We’re giving people the skills to help their community and their neighborhood in the time of need,” Welz said.
Council will take class
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner and the Township Council have not only adopted the CERT program and supported it, but they will also become part of the first class of CERT trainees next month.
“It’s a good program to have everyone more prepared,” Turner said. “This way, we can have a list of individuals who would want to help out in an emergency. We had people who wanted to help on 9/11 and during the blackout, but they didn’t know what they can do. For a small town, Weehawken is a major transportation center, and we all know that we had to handle tens of thousands of people during 9/11 and the blackout. Every time a massive evacuation happens in New York, they come through Weehawken. Now we can better organize our volunteer help in the terms of a crisis situation.”
Welz is hopeful that there will be such a positive feedback from the free CERT training that it will encourage CERT graduates to want to become either members of the town’s First Responder corps or a member of the volunteer ambulance squad.
“It’s a wonderful program,” Welz said. “People feel better about themselves after they complete the training. They can handle stressful situations better with the training.”
Welz said that the program has just recently received the support of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and his staff as well.
“I’m very pleased with the support the program has received,” Welz said. “It will really help people have the basic tools necessary and the basic knowledge necessary in the face of an emergency.”
The classes are slated to begin sometime in October. For further information about the CERT training and classes, call either the Weehawken Department of Public Safety at (201) 865-6610 or the Volunteer First Aid Rescue Squad at (201) 863-6611 during business hours. Each graduate will be fitted with a CERT vest, helmet, radio and flashlight.