Seniors finish training and stand ready to help

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

CLARE MARIE CELANO CERT graduate Yvonne Pinto receives her certificate from Howell Township Manager Thomas Czerniecki as Howell Fire Bureau Capt. Robert Lewis looks on. HOWELL - Some senior citizens weave baskets, take art lessons, or pottery classes - others take disaster training.

Nine residents of the Crossroads at Howell senior residence are now members of the Certified Emergency Response Team (CERT). Administrators at the apartment complex who are now also CERT members recently held a ceremony to honor the graduates of the program.

Crossroads at Howell is on Route 9 south, just south of Strickland Road.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, using a model created by the Los Angeles Fire Department, began promoting nationwide use of the CERT concept in 1994. Since then, CERTs have been established in hundreds of cities, according to a brochure about the organization.

"The program promotes a partnering effort between emergency services and the people they serve. The goal is for emergency personnel to train members of neighborhoods, community organizations or workplaces in basic response skills. CERT members are then integrated into the emergency response capability for that area," the brochure states.

If a disaster overwhelms or delays a community's professional response, CERT members can assist others by applying the basic skills they learned during training. These skills can help save and sustain lives until help arrives. CERT skills can also apply to daily emergencies.

The program was brought to the Crossroads residents by Executive Director Paula Samarel. She said although she has her own family at home, the residents of Crossroads are her "second family" - a family she worries about even when she is not on site. Samarel and other administrative and custodial personnel work at the apartment building Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There area many hours when residents do not have the benefit of on-site administrators or custodial staff. Samarel said CERT gives residents an advantage they did not have before and it gives her some measure of comfort to know these residents are capable of handling a problem until help arrives, if need be.

"You should be proud of yourselves," she told those who completed the CERT training, and added, "The rest of the residents appreciate your efforts."

In addition to Samarel, Jaime Marti-nelli, resident services coordinator, and Leo DeBartol, maintenance supervisor, are also now members of CERT.

In addition to the graduates, their family members and Crossroads' administrative officials, the ceremony was attended by Howell Fire Bureau Capt. Robert Lewis; Howell Office of Emergency Man-agement (OEM) Coordinator Ron San-asac; Robert Apponte, a New Jersey State Police officer who acts as the OEM Central Region field representative; and Howell Township Manager Thomas J. Czerniecki.

The graduates trained under the director of Lewis, who explained that the program at Crossroads was the first in Howell involving senior citizens.

The program targets audiences such as neighborhoods, businesses, communities of faith, scouting organizations, schools, clubs and other groups.

Lewis said CERT focuses on raising awareness to care for one's self first and foremost.

"If you take care of yourselves, there will be less 911 calls and this lifts some of the burden form us," he said.

Participants in the training sessions learned about disaster preparedness, fire suppression, disaster/medical operations, assessment and first aid treatment, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, team organization and fire drill execution.

Czerniecki said while volunteerism in general is on the decline, these residents were setting a fine example for their grandchildren.

CERT member Roberta Spatzer, 70, said she liked being the one to bandage her co-trainees. She also liked working with the "buddy system."

"There is always someone with you," she said, explaining that she signed up for the course to protect herself and her fellow Crossroads residents.

Elizabeth Calarino, 77, is no stranger to the medical environment. She spent 10 years as a medical secretary in a nursing home. She called the CERT program "fantastic" and said she now feels more able to protect herself and be of service to others.

Rose Aqualino, 71, said although she has had some medical training by working as a nurses' aide at Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, she enjoyed the course and feels more prepared to help in an emergency.

"We live here. We have to help one another," she explained.

Doris Leone, 67, said the training she received will be of great help at her job with the Howell School District, where she works in food service. She said she enjoys getting involved and helping people.

Residents Vera D'Anna, Charlie Giar-ratano, Rose Cappa, Tom DiSimone and Yvonne Pinto also completed CERT training.

All of the graduates were given a CERT certificate from the program and a certificate of appreciation signed by Howell Mayor Joseph DiBella.