The Federal Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"), Bergen County
Office of Emergency Management and other emergency management organizations
have recognized the potential value and contribution of local CERT
teams to the health, safety and welfare of their respective communities.
The Borough of North Arlington, by this chapter, establishes
and creates the North Arlington CERT as a program within and under
the direction of the North Arlington Office of Emergency Management.
In forming the CERT, the Mayor and Council seek the furtherance
of the following policies, among others:
A. During a large-scale disaster, the response of the Borough's
police, DPW and volunteer emergency services may be delayed or overwhelmed
by the nature and scope of an event. This leaves the citizens of the
Borough to provide for their own well-being and safety until first
responders arrive. This reality is the cornerstone of the North Arlington
CERT.
B. The goal of the CERT program is to provide our residents who complete
the CERT training with the basic skills that they will need to provide
for their personal safety and that of their family/neighbors. It also
prepares them to respond to the Borough's immediate needs in
the aftermath of a disaster, when emergency services may be delayed
or unavailable. By supplementing the Borough's emergency services
capabilities, CERT can protect property using the basic techniques
in this course.
C. CERT is about readiness, people helping people, personal safety and
doing the greatest good for the greatest number. The program provides
a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations
where citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can
make a difference. CERT is a community-based volunteer effort and
is a component of the Borough's Office of Emergency Management.
Members of CERT shall be appointed by the Mayor, subject to
confirmation by the Council, and shall serve indefinitely until their
resignation, ineligibility, removal or inability to serve for any
other reason and shall be required to:
A. Be a citizen or legal resident of the United States.
B. Be a resident of the State of New Jersey for at least six months,
reside within a fifty-mile radius of the Borough of North Arlington,
and remain a resident of the state during his/her term of service.
C. Be eighteen years of age or older for an unrestricted CERT member
and sixteen years of age or older for a junior auxiliary CERT member.
D. Consent to a criminal record check conducted by the North Arlington
Police Department.
E. Successfully complete FEMA/NJ State Police-approved CERT training.
F. Participate in at least 2/3 of all planned deployments each calendar
year, unless excused by the Team Chief prior to deployment.
G. Be absent for no more than three consecutive team meetings each calendar
year, unless excused by the Team Chief prior to meeting.
H. Complete any future required training for CERT volunteers.
North Arlington CERT will be managed by the OEM Coordinator
or his designee. It shall be the responsibility of the CERT Team Chief,
OEM Coordinator or his designee to maintain membership certification,
training and attendance records for all CERT members.
If staffing permits, the North Arlington CERT shall be comprised
of the following positions of leadership:
CERT members shall serve without compensation for their services;
provided, however, that it shall be lawful if the municipality, in
its discretion, chooses to reimburse certain members for certain out-of-pocket
expenditures.
The CERT's mission shall be as follows:
A. CERT members are trained in basic disaster response skills, team
organization and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned
in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members assure their own
safety first, and are then prepared to assist others in their neighborhood
or workplace following an event when first responders are not available
or when general assistance is needed in a variety of non-life-threatening
operations. CERT members are also prepared to support emergency response
agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects
in their community.
B. CERT is a critical program in the effort to engage everyone in the
Borough in making the community safer, more prepared and more resilient
when incidents occur.
C. The CERT program can provide an effective, supplemental response
capability. Acting as individuals first (in securing their own safety
and that of their immediate family/neighborhood), then later as members
of teams, trained CERT volunteers can assist (not replace) first responders
in many ways as well as act as effective "eyes and ears" for uniformed
emergency responders. They become an important supplemental workforce
to serve the community in such nonhazardous functions as shelter support,
crowd control and evacuation.
CERT members shall not perform any actions or services beyond
their training, qualification and mission. The authorized role of
trained CERT members includes, but is not limited to, the following:
A. Assisting as a shelter aid.
B. Assistance to emergency services teams in areas of recordkeeping,
communications and logistical support.
C. Performing public assistance checks for senior citizens and disabled
residents.
D. Assisting first responders or public work employees in nonhazardous
duties at disaster scenes or during rescue operations as authorized
by, and under the direction of, the OEM Coordinator.
E. Assisting with large nonemergency events within the Borough, such
as parades, runs and similar events, under the direction of and as
authorized by the OEM Coordinator.
F. In the event of an emergency, CERT can be activated through the Borough
Office of Emergency Management under the order of the OEM Coordinator
or any member of the Local Emergency Planning Committee.
G. Requests for planned or nonemergency events will be made directly
to the CERT Team Chief or Deputy with notification to the OEM Coordinator
and Borough Administrator.