PARIS -Would you what to do if you were the first upon the scene of a serious accident? What if a large-scale disaster overwhelmed the local fire and rescue services?

Seventeen new graduates of Community Emergency Response Team classes are. They have completed nine classes designed to prepare them to respond safely and effectively to emergencies where professionals have not yet arrived, or when there are not enough fire and rescue personnel to meet the need.

Scott Parker, director of the Oxford County Emergency Management Agency, is a strong supporter of the team, which now has about 70 members in Oxford County. He indicated that those who have completed the training are equipped to help themselves, their families and their neighbors. Those who elect to serve on a team are a valuable community resource, he said.

Parker said the training included emergency procedures to keep victims alive until the medically trained responders arrive, how to safely search buildings, ways to rescue lightly trapped victims and how to interface with other responders, among other skills.

One of the youngest class members is Sarah Mayberry. She said she is taking a year off before entering graduate school in the medical field. She wanted the training so she could help people in the community.

Two of the senior members are Charlotte Jacobson and Helen Poirier, both 75. They live in Norway’s Rustfield Village, a senior housing facility. They said they have lots of old and infirm neighbors and want to know how to help them in an emergency.

“I nursed elderly for 35 years,” Jacobson said, “so I may as well keep on helping them.”

Maria Ham said she wanted to be on a Community Emergency Response Team for the knowledge and service. “It’s good training to have,” she said, “and a good way to get involved.”

Storm Coleman and Sue Hemmer of Sumner are taking the training as a prerequisite to starting a Community Animal Response Team to handle animals in an emergency.

“FEMA learned during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans that many people won’t leave their pets behind,” according to Parker. The team will care for pets if people must evacuate their homes.

Parker’s assistant said the basic Community Emergency Response Team training is not the end. The 30-member team in Fryeburg has taken additional training so they can operate the Red Cross shelter in their town. The Amateur Radio Emergency System team has taken Community Emergency Response Team training so they can provide backup communications when needed. Some have gone on to take traffic control training so they can replace firefighters who usually are assigned to that task.

The next Community Emergency Response Team class will be held in South Paris in the spring.

Oxford County EMA will arrange the free training for groups of 12 or more.

On the ‘Net: http://www.megalink.net/~oxctyema/cert.htm