By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Arlene Bonville remembers Oct. 28, 2012 — the day before Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey — vividly.
Ms. Bonville sat in a room at the Lawrence Township Police Department with Jack Oakley, the township’s director of emergency management, and other township officials. All were watching a bank of television monitors, tracking the storm’s progress.
"We knew Sandy was going to hit us hard," said Ms. Bonville, who is the team leader for Lawrence Township’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) — a group of specially trained volunteers who help police, firefighters and EMTs in an emergency.
"We were getting together a list of which CERT members would be available, if we needed them. We realized there would be issues," she said.
That was pretty much an understatement. Trees fell and took down utility poles — and the telephone and electric lines with them. Lawrence Township was one of many areas of the state that lost electricity. But CERT members had already been contacted and were ready to pitch in.
For the next few days, CERT members helped to staff the comfort centers at Lawrence High School and the Lawrence Senior Center — places that had electricity so township residents could charge their cell phones, or take a shower.
They also helped to evacuate senior citizens from the Carriage Park and Brookshire senior citizens residential developments, off Darrah Lane, when electricity was knocked out. The team members helped them to make contact with relatives and friends, so they could be taken elsewhere.
"The main reason people take CERT is to help their own family, but the first time they are deployed and help the community, they get hooked. They want to help all the time because it gives them a great feeling," Ms. Bonville said.
With that in mind, Lawrence Township officials are looking for more volunteers to become CERT members. Lawrence Township has had a CERT in place since 2005. There are 15 members, but more are needed. About 25 to 30 members would be ideal, said Mr. Oakley, the township’s director of emergency management.
Training, which is free, is offered to people who want to join CERT. It takes place once a week, over a seven-week period. Each training session lasts about two hours, and the final session lets the participants practice what they have learned.
The first session covers disaster preparedness, which discusses the hazards and the actions that participants and their families can take before, during and after a disaster. The participants learn about CERT, as well as the laws governing volunteers.
The second session covers fire suppression — hazardous materials, fire hazards and how to put out a fire. Participants learn how to turn off utilities in a building, how to use a fire extinguisher and how to put out a small fire.
They also learn basic first aid —how to stop bleeding, how to handle shock, how to evaluate a patient’s condition by doing a head-to-toe assessment, how to establish a medical treatment area and to determine which patients have more pressing medical issues than others.
Participants learn about search and rescue planning and techniques, how to "size up" or assess the scene, and how to safely make a rescue without jeopardizing their own safety. They also learn about the psychological signs and symptoms that a disaster victim or disaster worker might experience.
Following a major disaster, first responders may not be able to provide fire and medical services because of the number of victims, communication failures and road blockages. But civilians can be trained to provide that help through the Community Emergency Response Teams.
"The whole idea of CERT is to give assistance to first responders — police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians," Ms. Bonville said. "Any time there is an emergency, CERT is a resource in the community that can be tapped."
"CERT helps first responders to do the work they need to do to get the emergency under control," she said. "It could be as simple as handing out water, or helping a medical team to do triage, or to do crowd or traffic control — whatever needs to be done to help add resources during an emergency."
But CERT is not just about emergencies or disasters, Mr. Oakley said. It’s for people who want to help out in the community — from handling crowd control at the Fourth of July fireworks show to registering participants for the township’s flu clinics, rabies clinics and even the Recreation Department’s annual "Red White and Bang" children’s triathlon.
"(CERT) gives you a feeling of satisfaction — the ability to help the community and other people. What better way to protect your family and help the community," Ms. Bonville said.
For more information about CERT and how to volunteer, visit Lawrence Township’s website at www.lawrencetwp.com.

