Lakewood C.E.R.T Opens Registration
Your Chance To Make A Difference For The Community
Lakewood’s Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) is now accepting applicants for their 2018 comprehensive training course.
This course is a once-a-year opportunity for residents to become certified to provide essential services for the community in times of crisis and need and learn possibly lifesaving skills.
The program will start in the beginning of January. Space in the program is limited, so anyone interested in joining should sign up now!
Lakewood CERT
Lakewood CERT is a division of
Lakewood’s Office of Emergency
Management (OEM).
Ocean County Sheriff’s Office’s CERT program and works together with the NJ State Police Office of Emergency Management.
Members of Lakewood CERT are trained in disaster preparedness, such as search and rescue, fire safety, team organization, HAZMAT scenes, first aid staffing stations for large events, storm spotting and preparation, and disaster medical operations.
CERT members stand ready to assist the community during a crisis to work together with local first responders’ units as needed and to take an active role in emergency preparedness projects.
Lakewood CERT operates under OEM coordinator retired Lakewood Police Chief Robert Lawson and the OEM in the Lakewood Township.
When our community has large-scale emergencies, our resources can be overwhelmed. Local organizations are aware of their stipulated tasks in the event of an emergency when deployed by the OEM. However, only trained CERT members can be a part of the OEM.
The goal of the course is to understand the danger in every emergency scenario and deploy the effective and proper response.
Chief Lawson relates, “CERT team members are an important asset to the community of Lakewood. The graduates make a big investment of time away from their families and businesses and make a big commitment to the community. We use CERT. teams when we have emergencies and our services are overwhelmed. They have been a tremendous resource for us.”
Chief of Police Gregory Meyer encourages residents to join the course as the knowledge and skills that you learn can save lives.
“With the rapid growth, we are experiencing here in Lakewood, our emergency responders deal with an ever-challenging day-to-day response to emergencies,” Chief Meyer explains.
“We are always in need of volunteer organizations, such as CERT where community volunteers learn how to react and assist in times of an emergency. Lakewood already counts upon numerous volunteer organizations in our day-to-day operations but in times where an entire community is, affected CERT teams become activated to assist with recovery operations. Just having the knowledge that CERT offers can benefit your entire family.”
The comprehensive course runs for six four-hour evening sessions and introduces basic disaster and emergency response skills in classroom and hands on settings. All lessons are presented by the state’s experts in that area.
Applications are available to enroll in this year’s Lakewood CERT program via the website www.Lakewoodcert.com and trainings@lakewoodcert.com
Designed for Our Community
Lakewood CERT follows the national CERT program curriculum and tailors the specified information to our community.
“We examine how a particular emergency would play out in a Lakewood scenario,” describes Lakewood CERT Coordinator.
Extra courses and stress on skill sets like CPR and Traffic and Safety; tools necessary and frequently called upon in a growing town like ours, are added by Lakewood CERT.
Captain Howie Butt of the NJ State Police stresses the excellence of the Lakewood CERT program by calling it, “the gold standard of CERT programs.”
Application Process
Lakewood CERT is open to the public.
All persons over the age of 18 are invited to enroll in the program. CERT is not only for people who want to get in the thick of a scene and be a responder; the training assists individual families and neighborhoods, as well as the community.
All residents are encouraged to attend the courses and be part of the CERT team. The application process is simple. Interested individuals can fill out an application available online at www.Lakewoodcert.com
Lakewood CERT training program will begin in January. If you are interested in joining the CERT training course or for more information email trainings@lakewoodcert.com or visit www.Lakewoodcert.com.