By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — First-responders in Plainsboro have a large and capable force of resident volunteers ready to help out and lighten the load during emergency situations, thanks to the municipality’s Community Emergency Response Team.
Resident-volunteers are trained in assisting first responders in emergency situations, going through a training program over 10 weeks to learn the skills needed in the event of an emergency.
”This is a very community-oriented program, which basically allows you to become the eyes and ears of our first-responders,” said the program’s assistant supervisor, Manick Rajendran. “You get to learn about how to react in the case of an emergency, in a very personal way.”
There is no lack of involvement in Plainsboro, with the township’s response team boasting over 160 active members ready to assist emergency workers in everything from structure fires to car accidents to bomb threats.
That number means it is the largest citizen response team in Middlesex County, according to Police Chief Elizabeth Bondurant.
”They are an incredible help to us,” she added.
They are also continually honing their skills through monthly meetings and training exercises. Mr. Rajendran and the other volunteers don’t just help out in the case of an emergency.
They can be seen assisting at community events, like Founder’s Day, running educational programs for fellow residents that improve Plainsboro’s ability to cope with the possibility of any emergency, big or small.
On the Police Department side of the program, Sgt. Joseph Duffy was the liaison to the response team from the group’s inception in 2004, although he no longer works directly with the program.
The program was started because of federal initiatives following Sept. 11, according to Sgt. Duffy, who said there was a big push by the State Police to create the municipal teams.
But Plainsboro’s present program is really a product of the efforts of township residents, Sgt. Duffy said.
”The residents in Plainsboro really made the program,” said Sgt. Duffy. “They realized it had a lot of personal benefits. That’s the foundation of the program.”
Sgt. Duffy recently handed off the program to Sgt. Joe Jankowski, who took over responsibility for the program at the beginning of 2008.
Sgt. Jankowski described the program as divided into tiers of volunteers, with different skill levels.
”You have one level of volunteers who are really trained to do things around the house,” said Sgt. Jankowski. “The other two levels actually respond, whether they’re needed in the town, county, state, or country.”
He said the volunteers are trained to set up a shelter for people displaced by a major emergency, set up the perimeter of an emergency area, and even set up first aid stations.
The response team even helps out with traffic, although they don’t ever have to fully direct traffic.
”They’re not out in the street waving their arms like we do,” Sgt. Jankowski said.
Since the group started in 2004, they have helped out at numerous emergency scenes.
One that stuck out for Chief Bondurant was the work of team members during flooding in the spring of 2007.
In April, Plainsboro C.E.R.T. volunteers helped the department out immensely during the floods that followed a nor’easter and inundated the region, according to Chief Bondurant.
The township almost suffered a breach in the outer well at the United Water Princeton Meadows wastewater treatment plant but the efforts of emergency personnel and the C.E.R.T. volunteers turned the tide, literally.
”We had them helping the Public Works Department filling sandbags,” said Chief Bondurant. “Fortunately it ebbed.”
The group holds monthly meetings, which usually alternate between a regular civic meeting and exercises, where the group gets together to sharpen skills, or learn new ones.
”They keep us sharp,” said Mr. Rajendran. “This is not a full-time job, and one can easily forget about how things work in an emergency.”
Other work the volunteers have done included a food and clothing drive for those hit by Hurricane Katrina. The group assembled the goods and actually drove them down to the devastated Gulf area, Sgt. Jankowski said.
They are equipped with their materials, and maintain an equipment trailer with barricades and everything else they need in case something happens in Plainsboro Township.
Sgt. Duffy said he appreciates the program because of what it does for relations between the township residents and their police department.
”They really become ambassadors for the police department around Plainsboro,” Sgt. Duffy said.
Residents wishing to get involved can call Sgt. Jankowski at the Plainsboro Police Department, at (609) 799-2333 ext. 619.
