CARIBOU, Maine — Next month Aroostook County Emergency Management will teach local residents to prepare for disasters and possibly save lives.
This two-day class, slated in January at the Aroostook EMA office in Caribou, will teach community members how to perform emergency response tasks such as light search and rescue, fire safety, team organization and basic medical operations.
The goal is to teach the public how to act independently in the event of a major emergency. The Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, training will ensure that people are equipped to help fellow residents when first responders are not immediately available.
“Whether it be a flood, storm or natural disaster, people will learn how to help their neighbors when the emergency services are overwhelmed,” Aroostook EMA Director Darren Woods said.
According to the Maine Emergency Management Agency, the citizen teams were first formed in 1987 when California was so overwhelmed with earthquakes that their emergency response teams were unable to respond to every incident. Community groups learned basic emergency preparedness functions and were able to help their neighbors until emergency responders arrived.
There are just a small number of such teams throughout the state, Woods said. The town of Searsport recently formed one in early 2023.
He said no particular event or circumstance inspired these classes, aside from helping to make sure people in Aroostook County are prepared in the event of a major emergency. Woods’ main goal is to help citizens become as prepared as possible.
The free course will provide this training to residents so they can form their own teams. Woods said if he could compare it to anything, it would be like a neighborhood watch, because the emphasis is on neighbors helping neighbors.
The training will cover hazards specific to Aroostook County as well as emergency medical care, proper use of a fire extinguisher, traffic control, and searching for people in a building. Woods said the intent is not necessarily to turn residents into first responders, but to give them the ability to assist emergency workers.
This is not the first time Aroostook EMA has held CERT training, but past sessions have always been targeted at a specific team or group, Woods said.
“We’ve been teaching CERT for 15 to 20 years, off and on, whenever it has been asked for,” he said.
Aroostook EMA used to have teams in Caribou, Houlton and Presque Isle, but now the area’s only active team is a 13-member emergency communications team, which is managed by the emergency management office.
Woods said Aroostook EMA would like to expand the CERT presence in the region if there is enough interest. This upcoming session is geared toward any members of the general public interested in helping their communities.
If these classes go well, the agency would like to host future sessions in other areas of The County. So far, Woods has received a request from the southern Aroostook town of Benedicta and will likely host another training session there later this year.
If a CERT team successfully forms, it would either work in conjunction with Aroostook EMA or their own community’s public safety departments.
The training, which is free of charge, will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, and Sunday, Feb. 1, at the Aroostook EMA Office at 158 Sweden Street in Caribou.
For information or to sign up, contact the emergency management office at 207-493-4328 or eoc@aroostookema.com.