Bethany CERT Team is Looking for New Members . . . and a Few Horses

If any Bethany residents didn’t know what the CERT Team was about, 2011 was the year to watch its members in action. During the storms and power outages, their bright yellow shirts were everywhere, manning the shelter at , checking on neighbors, picking up water and MREs from central locations and bringing them back to distribute locally.

“They went above and beyond during the power outages,” said Bethany Fire Marshal Rod White.

In Bethany and surrounding towns, the CERT teams proved their worth.

According to the CERT website, the idea for the Community Emergency Response Team was concieved in 1985 in Los Angeles following the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987. The L.A. Fire Department realized that during a disaster, trained civilian help was necessary to meet the community’s needs. The idea was simple, yet viable and spread quickly across the country.

According to White, Bethany is looking to bolster the ranks of its CERT team.

“This volunteer program helps train and equip citizens to be prepared to help themselves and their neighbors in the event of a disaster, crisis or common emergency,” White said. “Our current CERT members played a vital role in running the town shelter and distribution points during Hurricane Irene and the early winter storm.”

New CERT members are expected to attend training and participate in various events.

A new CERT training class, sponsored by the State of Connecticut at no cost to the town, will begin on Feb. 29 and will be offered jointly with Beacon Falls. The main topics for the training will be shelter staffing, distribution point management and communications. Classes will cover incident management, CPR and basic first aid, fire safety, disaster preparedness, light search and rescue, terrorism and disaster psychology.

Also, for an area that is so rich with horse people, White said they are looking at a new possibility.

“We are contemplating adding a mounted search and rescue team if there is enough interest among the horse owners,” he said.

For anyone interested in CERT training, including the mounted search team, applications are available in the Fire Marshal’s office at town hall, or call Rod White at 203-393-2100, ext. 119.