BMCC recently awarded those at the college who have completed emergency response training, a continuing sign that the college is a leader in New York City in emergency preparedness.
The gathering at Richard Harris Terrace was filled with students, staff and faculty who have completed three different types of training: a combined course in First Aid, CPR and AED; Fire Warden; and Campus Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT).
“Because of your commitment and dedication to BMCC, we are able to provide everyone here at the college a safe learning environment,” Ed Moss, director of Public Safetey, told the crowd. “I cannot say ‘thank you’ enough.”
The Programs, and Training
The First Aid, CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) training is BMCC’s most basic life support program, teaching the community here the latest skills and techniques in life-saving procedures. Fire wardens are educated on best practices for evacuation and search in case of fire.
Adriana Cabrera, who works in BMCC’s Learning Resource Center while attending classes at CUNY’s City College, is now a fire warden at BMCC.
“The fire warden training has been very useful,” she said. “If there is a fire, I’m ready to handle the situation no matter where I am. I’m definitely more informed, more aware now.”
C-CERT, on the other hand, “educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations,” according to the program’s Web site. C-CERT is a translation of the CERT program started in 1985 by the Los Angeles Police Department, which was eventually apapted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be a more general all-hazards couse. BMCC is one of only three colleges in the state qualified by FEMA to carry out the training.
If local response is overwhelmed by a disaster, C-CERT members can apply what they’ve learned to give support to their family, loved ones, neighbors or associates in their immediate area until help arrives. When help does arrive, C-CERTs provide useful information to responders and support their efforts, as directed, at the disaster site.
Emergency Preparedness at BMCC
Recently, BMCC became one of only 13 colleges across the nation — and the only one in New York City — to be awarded a U.S. Department of Education grant to upgrade its level of emergency preparedness (story).
BMCC will use the Emergency Management for Higher Education grant over the next 18 months “to establish an emergency action plan that improves our ability to prepare for and respond to major emergencies, including terrorist attacks, natural disasters, campus violence and disease outbreaks,” says Sunil Gupta, who wrote the grant and is Dean of Continuing Education and Workforce Development at BMCC.
The college will also look to strengthen its relationship with the local CERT program, offering classes to students and the surrounding community in such disciplines as fire suppression strategies, medical responses to disaster, and light search-and-rescue methods. In addition, BMCC will continue offering courses in C-CERT, First Aid, CPR and AED.
Scott Anderson, vice president of administration and planning at BMCC, said that the terror attacks of Sept. 11 marked a turning point for the college, and the grant and award ceremony are a part of the college’s efforts to ramp up emergency preparedness.
“I think we learned on Sept. 11 –- and during Hurricane Katrina, and most recently, Hurricane Ike –- that we cannot always depends on emergency officials to get to us,” Anderson said.
BMCC now has 105 C-CERT members, 81 people trained in First Aid/CPR/AED, and 76 fire wardens. Anderson said that he’d like to see those numbers grow.
“An emergency can happen on any floor, at any time of the day,” he said. “The staff, students and faculty being honored are likely to be near you when anything happens. They are our first responders. And that’s the beauty of this whole program: we’ll always have someone on duty if anything happens.”
