ASHFIELD — The Selectboard voted last week in support of creating a Community Emergency Response Team — a group of trained volunteers who will be deployed during times of crisis.
“You need people in an emergency,” commented Emergency Management Director George Stephan. “I can’t imagine being able to help in an emergency without having extra bodies.”
To start such a team, Stephan said, he first needed support from the Selectboard. With the approval, Stephan now hopes to get 20 volunteers to sign up. The volunteers will need to go through background checks and receive training through the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).
Although no volunteers have signed up so far, Stephan said he’ll continue to spread the word. If he doesn’t have a complete list of volunteers by early spring, he will not be able to form the Community Emergency Response Team. Another option, he noted, would be to create a regional team. He suggested turning to Plainfield or Conway to find more volunteers.
The Community Emergency Response Team will be deployed in emergency situations like ice storms. When people lose electricity and shelters need to be opened, the team will help run the shelter, direct residents and make sure food is available.
Stephan mentioned that first responders were tasked with distributing personal protective equipment in the early days of the pandemic. This is a job that could have been handled by a Community Emergency Response Team, allowing the town’s first responders more time for other jobs.
“As I got more experience with emergency management, it became more obvious this is the answer,” Stephan said of Community Emergency Response Teams. Ashfield’s budget is too small to have hired personnel dealing with every aspect of emergencies, making volunteer teams a great option for small towns like Ashfield, he explained.
There are relatively few Community Emergency Response Teams in western Massachusetts. There is one team for Franklin County as a region, with Sunderland, Orange and Athol having their own teams. In Hampshire County, Amherst, Florence, Northampton, Cummington Chesterfield and Easthampton have their own teams.
The downside to the program, according to Stephan, is the group of volunteers can quickly experience burnout if they are deployed too often. He hopes the team will only be used when it is absolutely necessary so there is not high volunteer turnover rates.
This program will not come at any extra cost to the town, Stephan said, as MEMA will supply everything needed for the program to function.
“Once I have enough people, I will start doing the legwork and secure training,” he said regarding next steps.
Bella Levavi can be reached at blevavi@recorder.com or 413-930-4579.