Lambertville Community Emergency Response Team Assisted 13 Times Last Year

The City of Lambertville’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) assisted at a number of events last year.

Mayor Andrew Nowick recently issued the end of year report from Detective Matt Bast about the team:

I have compiled the numbers for the Lambertville CERT team in 2023. Last year, CERT was requested at 13 different events in Hunterdon County, 4 of them being local events in Lambertville. The duties carried out during these events are mostly traffic control and assisting with crowd safety. The Lambertville CERT members logged roughly 164 hours throughout the year.

Our CERT members were called upon to assist on four occasions, in reference to three local emergencies. They were: the South Hunterdon Apartments fire, Heritage Village fire (both evacuation and repopulation), and the anticipated Delaware River water level cresting to flood stage. In these events, the CERT members assisted in a variety of ways, including setting up temporary evacuations and shelter, coordinating residents and transportation to and from the scene and the hotel, handing out flyers,  and speaking with residents. The Lambertville CERT covered 46 volunteer hours during emergency call-outs in 2023.

The Lambertville CERT team meets monthly, typically on the second Thursday of every month. In 2023, our members attended a total of 140 hours worth of meetings and drills. What have not been tracked are the countless hours that members spent on their own time, researching, compiling and designing the CERT Emergency Preparedness Checklist. Members also attended numerous training classes throughout 2023, both in person and virtual, which have not yet been tracked either.

In 2024 we hope to expand our CERT team from the current 11 active members. Our team is also planning more advanced training in 2024, including formal Traffic Incident Management training, FEMA training courses, additional First Aid/CPR training, and training with other CERT teams in Hunterdon County to broaden our network of neighboring CERT teams.

In total, the CERT team volunteered in person for a total of 350¼ hours in 2023. We look forward to a safe, happy, healthy 2024, and the CERT team will be available when called upon.

Interested in joining the team?

The Lambertville CERT team is always seeking new members to join the team. There is no residency requirement, so neighbors in Stockton, Delaware, West Amwell or New Hope are encouraged to join (you just have to be over age 18)!  There is an official CERT training course provided to any member interested, but the course is not mandatory. Members without the training are partnered with trained members in the case of CERT activations.

We encourage anyone who may be interested to please reach out to the Lambertville Office of Emergency Management. Learn more here.