Manalapan MRC-CERT is Hard at Work

Manalapan Township MRC-CERT (Medical Reserve Corps-Community Emergency Response Team) held its monthly meeting Tuesday, June 28. MRC and CERT are separate federal programs. The MRC is overseen and funded by the Office of the Surgeon General. The CERT is coordinated and supplied by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

Kim Silverstein, registered nurse and coordinator of MRC-CERT, said some towns operate either one program or the other program. Manalapan Township has the benefit of operating both.

“MRC-CERT is run independently, according to the needs of the community,” Silverstein said.

Combined, Manalapan MRC-CERT is a back-up response unit for the local police, fire, and first aid departments.

The Manalapan Township Board of Health formed the MRC-CERT in 2003. The program currently is comprised of over 200 volunteers.

On a recent call from the police department, more than 30 volunteers turned out to conduct a .

The search was organized by Dave Richardson, the Health Officer for Manalapan Township Health Department, and Carl Enriquez, the Incident Commander for the MERC-CERT.

A command center was stationed in the parking lot of CVS on Rt. 33. Volunteers were logged-in, checked for credentials and proper clothing. Then, the volunteers were divided into four teams, with each team given a specific location to cover. 

The search lasted for an hour and a half, when it was called off by the township police department due to new information about the missing resident’s whereabouts, Richardson said.

“All the procedures were followed,” Enriquez said of the search.

Volunteers found a backpack during the missing persons search. Richardson removed the backpack and turned it over to the police department. A protocol for items found on searches was put into place during the monthly MRC-CERT meeting on Tuesday.

As per the new standard of procedure, volunteers will not move items from their locations. Instead, items will be marked and the location of the item will be evidenced by small flags. Then, the volunteers will alert the police department of their findings.

“For the most part, it was a good exercise; even though it wasn’t an exercise,” Enriquez said.

Lead members of MRC-CERT, alongside the Department of Public Works, recently tested generators at the Senior Center. It was determined that MRC-CERT will need to provide additional generators if the site is continually used as a mobile command center during lengthy power outages.

Public service departments within Monmouth County are in the early stages of planning for radiological response capabilities, Richardson said. Once MRC-CERT’s role in a radiologic disaster is determined, Richardson said it will test its response capabilities.

Silverstein said it is time to start training second in command management. “We need to start looking for the next tier, training them to take over in case we (the emergency coordinators) aren’t available,” Silverstein said.

“For an all volunteer team, we do an excellent job,” said Steve Levine, advisor for Teen MRC-CERT. “We’re way ahead of the game.”

MRC-CERT’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 27.

For more information, call Manalapan Board of Health at 732-446-8345