First Coventry CERT Team Graduates Basic Training

Central Coventry Fire Captain Bill Hall began the graduation ceremony on Wednesday night by acknowledging the team members who spent every Wednesday night for nine weeks learning everything from how to extinguish fires, disaster psychology and triage to CPR certification and first aid.

Police Chief Bryan Volpe thanked Hall for taking the time and effort to design a basic training curriculum and train the members. He also gave thanks and congratulations to the graduates, stating "It takes a very special kind of person to sign on to do what you do."

Central Coventry Fire Chief Robert Seltzer explained that Coventry is now one of only a handful of towns in Rhode Island with a CERT team, partially because there are not many people willing to teach the course and finding volunteers can be difficult.

"We are in a world where people don't have a lot of spare time," said Seltzer. "I give credit to the members of CERT for volunteering. They are definitely an asset to the town and we're in a super, super situation for having people that are willing to give up their time."

Numerous local dignitaries attended the ceremony to present the graduates with proclamations including Sen. Glen Shibley, Sen. Nick Kettle, Councilman Carl Mattson, Town Council Vice President Kerry McGee and Representatives Scott Guthrie and Lisa Tomasso.

Captain Hall also recognized several instructors that helped out during the course, including Pat Shurtleff, Gregory Marx, Lt. Mike DeCesare and Private Alex Potts.

All CERT members were presented with a certificate of completion and neon yellow Coventry CERT t-shirts to wear in the case of an emergency. The team then presented Captain Hall with a plaque to show their appreciation for instructing the course.

"This was definitely fun for me and I think we're in good hands," said Hall.

Despite completing Basic Training, the CERT team's work has just begun as they will begin meeting on a monthly basis in September to continue learning techniques and having hands-on training.