In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

 

Last night, I attended a CERT Training for Manhattan team members at Lehman College which featured presentations from officials from the New York City Office of Emergency Management, Fire Department and Police Department officials. 

NYFD Captain Joe Brosi, a CERT Liaison and team trainer, (pictured above) reviewed the Incident Command structure under which we work during an emergency. Because CERT team members are citizens and not an everyday part of the uniformed services, it is important for us to understand and strictly follow the lines of authority and protocols. Therefore, these types of post-training sessions are increasingly important, and the strong turnout reflected that.

Another major emphasis of the speakers was the important role that CERT members have in educating fellow citizens about emergency preparedness. And so, as the storm season begins in May, the new Ready New York flooding guide was distributed.

I thought that a particularly candid points made by the officials last night is how new the CERT program is in New York, and therefore it is still evolving to best fit the needs and capabilities of the City. They said the work done at the midtown Manhattan crane collapse in March showed how well the CERT program has been integrated into the City’s emergency response plans.

Like last weekend’s terrorism drill on Randalls Island, this training was another opportunity to see (and in some cases meet) members of other Manhattan CERT teams. These types of events help build camaraderie not only among your own team but also with those members in other neighborhoods.