In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

I am very excited and a little proud that Roger Ma, a frequent contributor to this blog, has been selected as the Team Chief of the new Community Board #7 CERT team for the Sunset Park/Windsor Terrace area of Brooklyn.

As readers may recall, Roger contacted me in the Spring after I discussed my own involvement in CERT on WNYC’S “Brian Lehrer Show” to express his interest in joining the program. Luckily, it turned out that the training for his neighborhood team had just started, and he was able to join it. His team, along with seven other new New York City CERT teams graduated last week at a ceremony held at New York City Fire Department headquarters.

 

Roger (in a green CERT shirt at the top right hand corner standing just below Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Bruno) is seen here with the other members of the Community Board #7 Team at graduation. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (top row, fourth from right) and Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler (top row, third from right) also attended the ceremony.

As his posts to this blog indicate, Roger is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic and creative when it comes to emergency preparedness. He will make a real positive difference in improving his community’s — and the City’s — readiness and response, and he is exactly the type of citizen we need to bring more of into the CERT program. 

A major objective of this blog is to encourage public involvement in emergency preparedness activities as well as highlight and facilitate those opportunities. It is really exciting to know that the blog had a role in Roger’s involvement and now leadership in CERT.