Hanover Emergency Management Agency Seeking Residents to Join CERT 4/24/23

Are you looking to “give back” to your community? Would you like to learn more about disaster preparedness and how to help your family, friends, and neighbors during an emergency? Are you interested in meeting and joining a group of other like-minded resident volunteers who are called upon to help, assist and support your community during emergencies and other events? If the answer to any of these questions is “YES,” then please consider becoming a member of Hanover’s Community Emergency Response Team or “CERT.”

The Hanover Emergency Management Agency formally established a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) several years ago in an effort to create a group of resident volunteers within the community who were trained to assist and support the town and their neighbors during emergencies and other events. Members of CERT are a critical component to the town’s emergency preparedness and response mission and have been called to provide assistance during several events, including but not limited to severe weather events, staffing the town’s emergency shelter and warming/cooling centers during emergencies, Hanover Day, high profile funerals or other events, annual elections, and Town Meeting. Members of CERT were an important part of the Town’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Plan. They provided administrative staffing at call Centers, vaccination and testing clinics, and drive-up test kit distribution events.

As a CERT member, you will join a group of available residents who may be asked to help provide support and assistance at various times during the year. There is no set time commitment or schedule. New CERT members will receive basic training in emergency response and disaster preparedness. Regular and annual training will also be included. Not only will the training provide the knowledge and skills necessary to help during an event, but it will also provide the tools needed for residents to become more self-sufficient in a crisis. It will also teach you how to expand that effort to help neighbors in need. Altogether, this training and education will build a stronger community response during emergencies and make our community more resilient.

Our next training class is being finalized and will take place in May.

If you want to learn more, please complete the Hanover CERT Application.