CERT established in Stayton

This past fall, Stayton joined a number of other area communities when it assembled its first Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a program issued under the umbrella of Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA).

With Stayton joining the ranks, there are now 9 CERTs in Marion County: Woodburn, Keizer, Salem, Mount Angel, Stayton, Silverton, Turner, Gates and the Chinook Estates neighborhood in South Salem. Marion County Emergency Management Community Coordinator Erik Anderson has been working to increase that number, and the addition of Stayton is a significant part of that goal.

“Starting this past October we had 25 local residents begin taking the CERT training held every week for 7 weeks at Calvary Lutheran in Stayton,” Anderson said. “The training focused on search-and-rescue, first aid, psychological first aid, firefighting and terrorism. The group completed their training on Saturday, Nov. 22, with a final exercise.”

Anderson said more CERT teams may be on the horizon in the mid-Willamette Valley.

“We are currently trying to recruit potential members for the establishment of teams in Aurora and Jefferson,” he said. “Most of the teams are sponsored by Marion County, but they are operated at the local level. Marion County looks to the CERT groups to provide assistance wherever needed during a major disaster.”

Those tasks might include a number of disparate actions, including searching buildings looking disaster victims; providing direct aid to victims; shutting off utilities in damaged buildings and homes; working with the Medical Reserve Corps setting up a shelter for mass care; conducting damage assessment.

Fortunately, major disasters are not common phenomena, and CERTs activities are not confined to extreme conditions. They are often available to take part in a number of community events or sometimes as volunteers.

“We keep our CERTs busy by having them staff warming shelters, first aid booths and fill sandbags when needed,” Anderson said. “We also have a couple CERTs (Keizer and Woodburn) that will soon be starting to provide firefighter rehabilitation services to their fire districts.”

Anderson noted that Stayton Police Sgt. Michael Meeks will work with his community’s CERT to explore various areas of potential involvement.

“CERTs are a good resource to have when we have tasks that are considered low priority, (something) that police officers and fire fighters are unable to do,” Anderson stressed.

Turner CERT is having a class from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 16, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 17-18. The class is free and is open to anyone over the age of 18. For information, contact Chuck Roberts at (503) 851-0856.

jmuch@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 769-6338, cell (503) 508-8157 or follow at twitter.com/justinmuch

Area CERT contacts

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event and can take a more active role in preparing their community. The CERT program is administered by Department of Homeland Security.

CERT Programs within Marion County

Keizer: Paul Pfinister: nwbp1@msn.com or 03.393.0138

Marion County: Erik Anderson: eanderson@co.marion.or.us or 503.365.3186

Mt. Angel: Jason Sucich: jsucich@live.com or 503.931-1318

North Marion: Melinda Olinger: molinger@cityofhubbard.org or 503.951.7545

Salem: Roger Stevenson: rstevenson@cityofsalem.net or 503.763.3331

Silverton and Stayton: Erik Anderson: eanderson@co.marion.or.us or 503.365-3186

Spanish CERT: Jose Busto: jabusto@molalla.net or 503.759.4848

Turner: Chuck Roberts: turnercert@gmail.com or 503.851.0856

Woodburn: Uli Reich: uli@woodburnfire.com or 503.982.2360

City of Salem CERT training schedule online: www.cityofsalem.net/Departments/Fire/EmergencyManagement/Documents/CERT_Training.pdf