Emergency management re-establishing CERT team

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County emergency workers are looking for volunteers willing to respond in community disasters.

An informational meeting on forming the Floyd County CERT team is scheduled for Oct. 25, Emergency Management Coordinator Lezlie Weber said. There is no limit to how large the county’s team could be, Weber said.

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is a federal education program preparing volunteers in basic disaster response skills, including search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations, according to Ready.gov.

The program is designed to build a network of volunteers within a community who can assist professional emergency responders in disaster recovery. There are more than 2,700 local CERT teams nationally.

The Floyd County meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the Floyd County Courthouse assembly room (basement). Interested residents can learn more about the CERT program and will fill out a background check and paperwork for Weber to assess their current skills level.

“You don’t have to have any sort of emergency training or anything,” Weber said.

Volunteers will be given a job assignment to match their skills background.

“It’s all based on what the individual can bring to the table to help out. In a disaster, we need volunteers all the way across the board,” Weber said.

The county previously had an active CERT team, but over the years that disbanded before Weber accepted the emergency coordinator position, she said.

In a statement announcing the meeting, Weber said she heard many people express a desire to help in county disasters, such as the 2016 fall floods the county responded to.

“This is an excellent opportunity for any elected officials, civic groups, faith-based organizations, disaster recovery coalitions, businesses, schools, scouting organizations, and private citizens to come together and learn how they can be a huge asset to our county,” Weber said in the statement. “We all agree that a lot of assistance was needed during the tornado and flooding and this is the way to be a part of that type of activity.”