Residents from six different local municipalities were recently trained to help family, friends, and neighbors in the event of an emergency or disaster by taking part in the annual disaster preparedness training program run by Wilton’s all-volunteer Community Emergency Response Team (Wilton CERT), with the support of Police Chief John Lynch, the Wilton Emergency Management Director.
Upon graduation at the completion of the disaster preparedness training course, participants are invited to join the Wilton CERT organization. This year, 26 course graduates applied and have been accepted to become members of Wilton CERT.
CERT Instructors certified by the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security assisted in the training, along with other instructors from Wilton’s Police Department, Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service.
The training covered a variety of emergency skills, such as how to prepare before a disaster strikes, fire safety, basic first aid, disaster psychology, hazardous materials and terrorism awareness. It comprises 20 hours of instruction in the various areas of Disaster Preparedness and the course is provided free of charge to attendees.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the training was conducted primarily over videoconference but also included field practical exercises, which were conducted safely outdoors. These exercises included radio communications and learning how to safely extinguish a fire. At the conclusion of the course, all participants who completed the course were awarded disaster preparedness backpack kits.
Training continues through the year for all CERT members on various subjects including winter storm preparedness, Civil Unrest, Traffic Safety, and various natural disasters.
As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Wilton CERT regularly provides assistance to the town and its first responders at large emergency incidents and public events. Wilton CERT has performed a broad range of deployment activities, including assistance at this year’s Wilton Coronavirus vaccine clinics, traffic and crowd control duties, search and rescue for missing persons, staffing Wilton’s emergency shelter and distributing emergency food and water as and when required.
A waiting list for next year’s course is available on the CERT website’s disaster preparedness page. For further information about CERT activities, please visit Wilton CERT online or follow CERT on Facebook.