Joliet recruits for volunteer responders

Joliet has begun recruitment for its first Community Emergency Response Team and hopes to have 100 volunteer residents involved by the end of the year.

The city held meetings this week with any residents interested in joining the team of volunteers that will be called to service in emergencies.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be formed in the coming months, said John Lukancic.

Lukancic, director of the city’s Office of Emergency & Disaster Management, is spearheading the creation of the team.

He will hold the third of three meetings for anyone interested in the program at 6 p.m. Friday in Joliet Fire Station 10, located at 1599 John D. Paige Drive.

“Joliet residents want to be involved, and they want to help their neighbors, and this program will allow them to do that,” Lukancic said in a presentation on the program to the Joliet City Council on Jan. 21.

Lukancic and others have described CERT as a program that, along with creating a corps of volunteers, will bring individuals from around the city together for a common purpose.

“Joliet residents want to be involved, and they want to help their neighbors, and this program will allow them to do that.”

—  John Lukancic, director of Joliet's Office of Emergency & Disaster Management

Membership will include residents in the five different City Council districts, increasing the likelihood of a team consisting of people from diverse neighborhoods.

“It’s not just a disaster program. It’s a community builder,” Lukancic said.

It will not only involve formal training, equipping members to help out in serious ways after tornadoes and fires, but also get people involved in more casual ways during festivals and community events.

“There’s already a buzz in the neighborhoods about this,” Councilwoman Suzanna Ibarra said at the council meeting.

CERT was started in 1985 by the Los Angeles City Fire Department and now a national program under the management of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

There are 3,200 CERT teams nationwide, and more than 600,000 people have received training, according to the FEMA website. Lukancic said there nearly 40 CERT teams in Illinois.

Nearby communities with CERT teams include Plainfield and New Lenox.

Training in Joliet will include an eight-week class that will meet once a week for three hours.

Graduates are trained in a variety of skills, including CPR, weather spotting and light fire suppression. They also will be trained to help first responders in non-emergencies, such as 5k runs and other community events.

Members must be residents of the city, over 18 years of age, possess a valid driver’s license or state identification card, and go through a criminal background check.

Lukancic said a pilot class will be coming up soon and is expected to generate a first round of graduates by May.

Other classes will follow as the city develops its corps of CERT volunteers.

“What we want to do first is recruit a large pool of volunteers,” Lukancic said.

Anyone interested in the CERT program can call Lukancic at 815-724-3563 or email emergencymanagement@joliet.gov.

To enroll, visit the city website at joliet.gov/CERT.