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Committee debates reconstituting CERT; town staff to research uses and recruitment
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Summary
Fort Myers Beach officials discussed restarting a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) but split over its usefulness for island-wide hurricanes; the fire chief said a prior CERT dissolved for lack of use and asked the committee to identify realistic roles, costs and training needs before moving forward.
Kieran Farrell, acting chair of the Fort Myers Beach Public Safety Committee, brought the committee into a broad discussion about whether to reconstitute a Community Emergency Response Team.
Thomas Yazzo, merch services director for Fort Myers Beach, told the committee CERT "is a massive tool" but said he does not "believe that CERT is an effective tool within scope of EM for a hurricane type emergency," arguing volunteers may be preoccupied with their own homes after a major storm. "I think they're a selective tool that can be used in particular type of events," Yazzo said.
Fire Chief Scott Worth said the town previously had a CERT that dissolved around 2015–2016 because of lack of utilization. "It was my understanding from the folks before me that the team dissolved. It was a lack of utilization," Worth said, and added that re-creating a team would require staff time, training and equipment purchases. "We would have to scale up to provide the training and stuff," he said.
Committee members pressed on what practical tasks a revived CERT would perform and what training would be required. Todd Capella and others asked whether CERT volunteers would be trained in first aid, CPR/AED or traffic control, and whether the program would fill gaps not already served by community volunteer groups and county resources.
Several members recommended the committee reach out to former CERT participants and commissioners to document the prior program's pros and cons. Ron Benoit said he would try to find past members to describe what the team actually did and why it dissolved. Chief Worth and committee members agreed that the first step is to identify realistic, recurring uses for volunteers and then weigh training and equipment costs against likely utilization.
The committee did not take a formal vote on forming a team; members asked staff to return with research on potential roles, training plans and contact with former CERT members at the next meeting.
