City Graduates Eight CERT Volunteers

The city of Mercer Island announced eight local residents completed Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at a Feb. 18 graduation ceremony at City Hall, according to a press release.  

The city's newest CERT graduates are Joan Belady, Tom Campbell, Doug DiJulio, Joel Ohringer, Jeff Ohringer, Tina Rogers, John Nielsen and Leslie Scott. 

According to the press release, only six city staff living on Mercer Island and only 11 public safety employees on duty after hours, local volunteers play an important role in helping ensure the safety of the community.

With Interstate 90's two bridges serving as Mercer Island's only connection to the rest of the Puget Sound for most of the community's residents, a catastrophic event could severely limit access on and off the Island. 

The city seeks citizen involvement in public safety issues and the CERT team will help keep the community prepared to take care of themselves for 7 days and help each other should the need arise.

Approximately 181 Residents have taken Mercer Islands (CERT) Community Emergency Response Team classes. These classes are held one Saturday a month for 11 months. Mercer Island currently has 40 CERT graduates, 

"Mercer Island is fortunate in that we have an amazing resource in our citizens.  The level of expertise is invaluable," said City Emergency Preparedness Officer Jennifer Franklin. "Classes are free, a great way to meet other Mercer Island residents and a lot of fun."

The city currently maintains a database of 971 volunteers who have provided their contact information in the event of a disaster.  

City Hall will begin the next CERT class series on March 17, 2012 from 9 a.m. -12 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. For more information, click on the PDF of the schedule for the new class series to the right, or contact Jennifer Franklin, Emergency Preparedness Officer at 206-275-7905 or at jennifer.franklin@mercergov.org.