When a blizzard hits or flood waters rise, it’s all hands on deck to keep the community safe. While first responders tackle the immediate dangers, members of Bedford CERT provide support by handling the more mundane essentials of disaster management.

Those who are interested in joining Bedford CERT or learning more about the team can visit www.bedfordnhcert.org or email bedfordcert@comcast.net.

Ron Michaud, the director of Bedford CERT, took some time to tell us how and why the team was started, what the training entails and exactly what the team does during an emergency.

Here’s part of the conversation:

Question: What is the purpose of CERT?

Answer: CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. The purpose of a community having a CERT team in their area is for the team to educate the community in disaster awareness and preparedness. During a disaster, CERTs can be activated through the emergency manager to back up first responders. Although CERTs are not first responders, they train in particular areas in order to replace first responders, who may be overwhelmed during a disaster. They can train in traffic control, opening up a shelter or teaming up to do door-to-door notifications or wellness checks.

Q: Why is it important for people to join?

A: The main reason to join a CERT team is to help out the community in case of an emergency. It is also important to help out our emergency manager, whether it is directing traffic at a town gathering or even helping out the Bedford Fire Department when they require extra staffing as a non-first responder.

Q: What led to the establishing of Bedford CERT?

A: I am a former resident of Goffstown and a former member of Goffstown CERT. The Goffstown CERTs were utilized quite often when I lived there. I volunteered through the Mother’s Day Floods, April 2007 floods, numerous power outages and many shelter openings. I moved from Goffstown to Bedford a year ago. I saw the need for Bedford to have a CERT team when this town started having disasters of its own, such as the October snowstorm.

Q: How long has the team been around and how many members are there?

A: The newly formed Bedford CERT team just graduated its first group on June 7. We have 23 members, with another class being formed for early September.

Q: How did you become involved with CERT?

A: My wife and I were reading the Goffstown News in 2005, and there was an article in the newspaper that said free CERT training. It consisted of 20 hours, so we decided to attend the classes. When we began the classes, we had no knowledge of what items you need to be self-sufficient for the first 72 hours during an emergency. After these classes, we are definitely prepared now.

Q: What are the basic response skills that CERT members are trained in?

A: All CERT members are taught the basics in CERT deploying, equipment needed to have with you, basic first aid and triage, basic psychological first aid, basic terrorism awareness and what to look for, basic animal sheltering and behavior of an animal, and fire suppression – using a fire extinguisher and what you need to do when spotting a fire.

Q: How much training does it take to become a CERT member?

A: The CERT classes consist of 22 hours of hands-on training and many power points.

Q: Who conducts the training?

A: The training is taught by certified CERT trainers who have been trained through the New Hampshire Fire Academy in Concord. The manual is printed by FEMA and Homeland Security.

Q: How is Bedford CERT structured? Are there different divisions or units that specialize in particular skills?

A: In an emergency, our CERT team would be activated through the emergency manager, who would call the director of the CERT team. The director would call his officers, who then will call the members, and an incident command post will be set up.

As a new CERT team in Bedford, we are in the process of training our members in numerous areas according to the recommendation of our emergency manager. As our Bedford CERT team grows, we will break them up in teams either by geographical locations or by specialty teams.

Q: What constitutes a disaster?

A: A disaster consists of anything from a tornado that hits our region, an ice storm that knocks out power to our region, major flooding and washout in our region, windstorms and even sneaky October snowstorms, and of course, terrorism.

Q: How do you a simulate a disaster for training purposes?

A: As a former Goffstown CERT Training Officer for five years, I would run a simulated drill once a year and take all the items that were taught in the 22-hour-long class and run the drill like it was a real disaster.

We call them in the morning, tell them that they are being activated and to assemble at a certain location at a certain time.

At that point, they are separated into different teams and I would send the team to their first location to do their first training while the other teams head to their different assignments.

The drills would last about six hours.

Q: Can you give me an example of how Bedford CERT might function in an emergency? What would the team do to aid emergency personnel and community members?

A: When I first met with our emergency managers Police Chief John Bryfonski and Fire Chief Scott Wiggin in January of this year, they thought it was a great idea to have a Bedford CERT team.

They would like to have us trained in shelter operations, traffic control and search and rescue. These categories are very important to this town. It frees up many of our first responders so they can continue doing tasks that are more critical.

Q: What items should everyone have on hand in the event of an emergency?

A: That is one of the main reasons why people should participate in this free training.

The question is, do you know what you should have in a 72-hour preparedness kit? Water – how many gallons
per person per day? Flashlight batteries, radio,
medication, food, contact information and an emergency plan in place.

Q: Does Bedford CERT participate in any other activities?

A: We are grant-funded through the Citizen Corps Council and in order to receive these funds, our CERT team must participate in community outreach programs. When we attend outreach programs like Bedford Olde Towne Day , we have a table set up to promote “Are You Prepared?” Many of the brochures we hand out are about being prepared. We even have coloring books just for kids at different levels that make them understand a little about an emergency. These handouts are all donated from FEMA.