The Borough of Lodi's Office of Emergency Management or Lodi OEM, is the primary agency charged with planning and preparing for all types of natural or man-made disasters and coordinating and managing the response and recovery efforts when such disasters strike. 

Examples of these types of incidents which the Borough has been subject to include:

• Flooding
• Nor'easters
• Hurricanes
• Winter Storms
• Electrical Outages
• Heat Related Emergencies
• Large-Scale Fires
• Large Scale Haz-Mat Incidents

Lodi OEM is comprised of a staff of well-trained and experienced individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. They have trained with such agencies as the Bergen County Law and Public Safety Institute, the New Jersey State Police and FEMA. 

In addition, Lodi OEM oversees the Borough's Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, which provides assistance to the Borough's First Responders for a variety of long term or other incidents and events. The Lodi CERT has operated evacuation shelters and reception areas, assisted in notification for gas emergencies, assisted on traffic details during major storms, manned checkpoints, conducted evacuations and transportations during floods and major fires and has even assisted neighboring communities. 

"CERT" - Community Emergency Response Team

The CERT program, a nationwide initiative, helps train people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen CERT members can give critical support to First Responders, provide immediate assistance to victims and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that help improve the safety of the community.

The events of September 11, 2001 will never be forgotten; also not forgotten is how the spirit of America was awakened that day and citizens came forth to volunteer their services. President George W. Bush harnessed this spirit with the Citizen Corps program which CERT is a part of. 

CERT Training
The CERT training consists of 20 hours of instruction over an 8 week period.
Classes are taught by emergency responders including fire fighters, emergency medical and law enforcement personnel from your community. The course includes the following:

• Session 1 - Disaster Preparedness
  • Introduction to disasters specific to the community and the impact of disaster on infrastructure
• Session 2 - Disaster Fire Suppression
  • Identifying and reducing potential fire hazards and basic fire suppression
• Session 3 - Disaster Medical Operations
  • Treatment strategies for life-threatening conditions and principles of triage
• Session 4 - cont. Disaster Medical Operations
  • Head to toe patient assessment and treatment for various injuries
• Session 5 - Light Search & Rescue Operations
  • Techniques for sizing up and searching, lifting, cribbing and removing victims; rescue safety
• Session 6 - Disaster Psychology & Team Organization
  • The post-disaster emotional environment will be discussed. CERT organization, decision making and documentation
• Session 7 - Terrorism
  •  A brief overview of terrorism weapons. Identifying targets in an area and discuss time/distance/shielding
• Session 8 - Final Exercise
  • Disaster simulation realistic  to your community

CERT Training Will Teach You To:

• Describe the type of hazards most likely to affect their homes and communities
• Describe the function of CERT and their roles in immediate response
• Take steps to prepare themselves for disaster
• Identify and reduce potential fire hazards in their homes and workplaces
• Work as a team to apply basic fire suppression strategies, resources and safety measures to extinguish a burning liquid
• Apply techniques for opening airways, controlling bleeding and treating shock
• Conduct triage under simulated conditions
• Perform head to toe assessments 
• Select and set up a treatment area
• Employ basic treatments for various wounds
• Identify planning and size-up requirements for potential search and rescue situations
• Describe the most common techniques for searching a structure
• Describe ways to protect rescuers during search and rescue

Role of CERTs in an Emergency
The Lodi CERT has been utilized to:

• Staff our Emergency Operations Center and monitor events
• Evacuate and transport children from a child center with a noxious discharge and set up a reception center to reunite them with their parents
• Evacuate and transport displaced residents from fires and flooding
• Set up and staff temporary shelters during Hurricane Irene, Sandy and other storms

Other CERTs have been used to:

• Search for lost or kidnapped children
• Emergency Operations Center Security; driving, information, assisting disabled visitors and minor first aid
• Manage "spontaneous/convergent" volunteers
• Assist Red Cross and other relief organizations on mass care

To become a Lodi CERT member you must be at least 18 years of age. If you want to volunteer your services and become trained to protect yourself and your families from disasters; natural or man-made contact:

Lodi Office of Emergency Management or send us an E-Mail at LODIOEM@gmail.com

SWIFT911 - Emergency Notification System

The Lodi OEM has partnered with the County of Bergen to utilize an emergency notification system that allows them to quickly notify affected residents and businesses with important and vital information. While most residents are automatically in this database, those who utilize their cellphones as their primary phones, utilize internet-based telephone systems or "take" their telephone numbers when moving into or out of Lodi may not receive these notifications. If you would like to receive these notifications you may register using the Swift911 Portal