Lower Emergency Management Looking for C.E.R.T. Members

VILLAS — The Lower Township Office of Emergency Management is looking for township residents who may want to serve their community during times of emergencies or during local events, through our Emergency Volunteer Program. The program consists of two groups; Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T) and the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (R.A.C.E.S)
C.E.R.T provides the township with an emergency response team to aid and assist the current first responder emergency services in the township in time of need. There is a basic training requirement which consists of 20 hours of instruction over an eight-week period.
Classes are taught by emergency responders, including firefighters, emergency medical personnel and law enforcement personnel from your community. Some of the topics of training are First Aide, CPR, using fire extinguishers, traffic safety, basic search and rescue techniques.
R.A.C.E.S is a protocol created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (F.E.M.A.) and the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C. Part 97, Section 407). R.A.C.E.S. volunteer operators are licensed radio amateur users, which are certified by a civil defense agency (OEM). Because of this certification, they able to communicate on amateur radio frequencies during drills, exercises and emergencies when activated by local, county and state jurisdictions.
Only licensed amateur radio operators are authorized to transmit during declared emergencies when the President of the United States specifically invokes the War Powers Act. If you do not have a license but wish to obtain one, the group will be able to work with you in achieving your goal.
Some of the duties assigned to C.E.R.T and R.A.C.E.S members could be: assisting police or fire personnel with traffic details during emergencies or large community events, helping with sheltering operations, assisting in large scale searches and assisting in the recovery processes after a disaster occurrence just to name a few.
The training and experiences that will become available to you through your participation in either group will not only help our community but could also benefit your immediate family as well because of the knowledge and training you will receive.
Anyone interested in joining one or both groups are asked to complete the Emergency Volunteer Application which can be found on our website at townshipoflower.org, Office of Emergency Management or lowertownshipcert.org.
Those not having access to a computer you may call 886-1619 ext. 133 and leave a message with your mailing information and we will be glad to send you an application.
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