Community Corner

CERT Needs Volunteers

The team consists of citizens trained in disaster preparedness who want to train other members of the community in disaster preparedness.

Brian Maceyak is a teacher at Mayfield Intermediate School, but also volunteers as a first responder for the Manassas Community Emergency Response Team.

The team consists of citizens trained in disaster preparedness who want to train other members of the community in disaster preparedness. The program began in L.A. after a serious 1987 earthquake, and is sponsored by FEMA.

Maceyak said he joined the federally required program for the City of Manassas because he wants to help residents practice personal preparedness, so they don't "turn to panic in a bad situation."

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He wants to be able to help his family and students should the unthinkable happen.

"We live in a volatile area," Maceyak said. I tell parents my number one goal as a teacher is to get their children back to them safely, he added.

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Deputy Emergency Coordinator, Emergency Management Specialist for the City of Manassas Office of Emergency Management Robert Halsall said the Manassas CERT program was able to purchase new equipment through a federal Citizen Preparedness Grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. 

The new equipment includes triage tent kits, which are used for prioritizing patients involved in a mass casualty event.

The team will be conducting training Saturday morning at Mayfield Intermediate School to introduce and familiarize themselves with the new equipment.

The training is not meant for the general public; however, citizens are encouraged to come out and watch.

CERT members are trained to assist emergency responders who may be overwhelmed with multiple calls for assistance during natural disasters and terrorist attacks.

The local CERT program has grown from five members to 16 trained members in about four years. Maceyak said he goes through annual training and often participates in community events to keep people safe, such as the Fourth of July Celebration at Osbourn High School and the Fall Festival in Old Town.

"We hope to have enough CERT trained citizens of the community to create teams that are individually community based throughout Manassas," Halsall said. "Our program is open to residents and businesses of the City of Manassas, as well as areas close to Manassas within Prince William County."

Training for CERT volunteers consists of Emergency Preparedness, First Aid, CPR & AED, basic fire suppression, basic search and rescue techniques, basic disaster psychology, team building and a final mock disaster exercise, where members get the opportunity to practice what they have learned.

Training classes are about 6-8 weeks. CERT is considered a light rescue program and an interface to assist first emergency responders.

"The training is in no way meant to replace our emergency responders, only to assist when needed," Halsall said.

"It is our way of helping our community be better prepared during a disaster to help them selves by being more aware and better trained," Halsall said. "Training alone will greatly reduce the natural anxiety should a disaster occur."

The next CERT training class is scheduled to start November 10.

"We need at least six volunteers to make the class financially worth having," Halsall said. 

Currently, there are four people signed up for the training class. "If this class fails to gain momentum, our next class will be held in the spring," Halsall said.

 


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