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Contact: William Reyes
Office of Public Information
908-820-4124

City Hall is C.E.R.T. Certified

Elizabeth, NJ, January 27, 2006—Mayor Chris Bollwage announces the certification of the first Elizabeth Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). Twenty-five City Hall employees completed the eight-week course taught by Elizabeth Emergency Services personnel and successfully passed the four-hour final exercise.

“Members of the first CERT team should be commended for volunteering and learning how to save lives,” stated Mayor Bollwage. “We encourage other organizations throughout the City to participate in this important program and join our team.”

Since the CERT program was developed in 1985 and endorsed by FEMA in 1993, it has spread across the nation. It is currently taught in large cities, small towns and rural areas, many of which have adapted it to fit their own communities and circumstances.

Elizabeth CERT members were instructed in emergency situations such as disaster preparedness, fire suppression, CPR, search and rescue just to name a few. Upon completion of the 20 hour course participants participated in a final exercise which was staged as a mock emergency scenario and included victims played by Girl Scout Troop Four. Participants had to use all the skills and instruction they had learned and practiced to successfully complete the course and become CERT certified.

Emergency officials estimate over one hundred Elizabeth residents are certified but the City Hall group is the first official CERT team in the City. New Jersey leads the nation in the number of Citizen Corps Councils that have been established with over 60 CERT teams and over 1,400 CERT trained citizens.

“What a great thing to do not only yourself but for the residents of this City,” said Council President Ed Jackus. “Learning how to help your neighbor in time of crisis is noble and selfless. We are proud to have the first CERT team in the City of Elizabeth be City Hall personnel.”