Community Emergency Response Team Celebrates 5th Anniversary
The following press release was issued on February 3, 2025 by BOCH CERT
CAPE COD — February 6, 2025 marks the fifth year the all-volunteer Brewster-Orleans-Chatham-Harwich Community Emergency Response Team (BOCH CERT) has been serving the communities on Lower Cape Cod. The team of 52 volunteers have performed over 10,000 hours of work supporting first responders during emergency and non-emergency operations.
Volunteer members are specifically trained under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Barnstable County guidelines to support local emergency services during natural and man-made disasters as well as emergency and non-emergency events.
The team was established on February 6, 2020, and was quickly put into action supporting communities with COVID pandemic support. Within weeks of standing up the team, volunteers assisted with critical food and medicine distribution, COVID testing clinics and vaccine operations. The team was called upon for 15 months of direct and sustained assistance during the pandemic.
In January 2022, BOCH CERT was called upon to help assist local emergency services during and after a powerful blizzard causing Cape-wide power outages. The team opened and managed a regional shelter at Nauset High School for 72 hours in coordination with Barnstable County and the Town of Eastham. Volunteers also managed warming centers in Brewster, Orleans and Chatham.
BOCH CERT was activated to support Harwich during a water emergency on April 11, 2024. Volunteers were called up and on scene within an hour to set up a public water distribution site providing bottled water to concerned residents.
The team also participated in many non-emergency community events to assist first responders with public safety during parades and major events.
- CERT team members regularly train throughout the year to maintain a high level of readiness to support emergency services. Members can obtain FEMA, CPR and Stop the Bleed certifications as well as specific training including:
- Light Search and Rescue (SAR)
- Commodity Point of Distribution (CPOD) for water, food and emergency supplies
- Shelter and warming/cooling station operations
- Mass casualty, triage and disaster medical operations.
- Public safety
- Disaster preparedness
- Direct support to emergency services
The annual training program includes classroom and hands-on practical training. The team conducts full scale, scenario-based field exercises several times a year to maintain proficiency and teamwork. Training and field exercises are based on realistic events that could impact communities on Lower Cape Cod.
New members can expect initial classroom, hands-on and online basic training.
BOCH CERT is uniquely equipped to support disaster and emergency operations with response gear and a mobile response/command and control trailer. The trailer can be used to quickly establish a CERT base camp to support first responders when needed.
Retired East Greenwich Fire Department Captain and Chatham resident, David Miller, is the current CERT Coordinator. He worked closely with Brewster, Orleans, Chatham and Harw.ch to establish the regional volunteer group.
For information about joining the team visit BOCH-CERT.org or by contact the team via email: contact us@boch-cert.org.
BACKGROUND – The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs.
CERT became a national program in 1993. There are now CERT programs in all fifty states, including many tribal nations and U.S. territories. Each is unique to its community, and all are essential to building a Culture of Preparedness in the United States. There are over 2,700 local CERT programs nation-wide and more than 600,000 people have trained since CERT became a national program.
MEDIA ADVISORY – Media are welcome to join and experience a full-scale field exercise in May 2025. The scenario-based, day-long exercise will focus on team activation, light search and rescue, disaster medical operations, first aid and command control.
For more information about BOCH CERT please contact Corey Barker, (774) 212-9022. Email: cbarker@boch-cert.org
Interview point of contact: David Miller, BOCH CERT Coordinator, dmiller@boch-cert.org
Interview point of contact: Chip Reilly, Barnstable County, chip.reilly@capecod.gov
Interview point of contact: Mark Heller, Deputy Director of Emergency Management, Chatham Fire Dept, mheller@chatham-ma.gov
Stock photos are available upon request. POC: Corey Barker, cbarker@boch-cert.org
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