CHRIS KELLY staff The Tinton Falls CERT Team has been awarded this trailer by the state Office of Emergency Management. TINTON FALLS — The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) of Tinton Falls has been awarded a new trailer by the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
The state OEM announced March 5 that Tinton Falls would be one of six New Jersey CERT programs to receive one of the trailers.
The trailers, valued at around $3,400 each, will be located at the Tinton Falls police headquarters and will be used to transport emergency equipment and to pick up supplies in the event of a disaster, according to Tinton Falls CERT coordinator Beth Hessek.
The trailers came equipped with some supplies and a $1,500 grant to buy more equipment, she said last week. The only requirement for the funds is that the team purchase a 3,000-watt generator, which is valued at around $500-$600.
The rest of the money will be used to purchase supplies like gloves, first aid kits, masks, tents and triage tape.
“At the end of each year CERT provides a list of activities they participated in the past year to the Monmouth County Emergency Management Office,” Hessek explained. “They then in turn submit a report to the state. The State Citizens Corps Council then reviews these reports and determines what groups to award trailers.”
The purpose of CERT is to provide aid during a crisis. The various missions include search and rescue for missing persons, aid and cleanup during snow and ice storms, administeringminor first aid, and other disaster relief efforts.
“The role of CERT is to give an extra set of hands,” Hessek said. “We basically free up the professionals to do the more important jobs. The CERT trailers are intended to allow the team quicker and more efficient emergency response.”
The borough received the trailers on March 5, but Hessek expects it to take about 120 days before they can be implemented.
“We need to buy the equipment for it and go through the proper training program before we can start using them,” she said. “We are in the process of evaluating what equipment we need to go out and buy.”
The Tinton Falls CERT, which has 69 members, has been an active team since 2004, when Hessek became the CERT coordinator.
“We received this trailer because we are an active team,” Hessek said. “Not only do we do things in town, but we’ve assisted other towns as well. Tinton Falls has responded every time we’ve received a call from the county OEM.”
The Tinton Falls CERT has worked with other local municipalities in the past. When a water main broke on Newman Springs Road in Red Bank in 2004, the Tinton Falls unit responded by handing out water to those in need. Parts of Tinton Falls, Red Bank, Oceanport and Shrewsbury were affected by the emergency.
Shortly after the incident, a Shrewsbury CERT was organized.
In recent years there have been CERT programs implemented in many Monmouth County towns, including Shrewsbury, Oceanport and Red Bank.
“It is very important that we stay involved with other teams in our area,” Hessek said. “Just last Saturday we participated in a search-and-rescue training with the team from Manalapan.”
Although there were no calls placed to the Tinton Falls CERT last year, the team has stayed active by participating in many county drills and programs run by the police and fire departments.
Requirements to join a CERT program include completing an 18-20 hour training program over a period of six to eight weeks. For more information, call 1-877-CERT-411.
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