Ken manned the CERT/CART booth outside the Oxford Fire and Rescue building. Ken has taken the 20 hour CERT class and is a key member of the Oxford County Animal Response Team

The Oxford County Animal Response Team (OXCART) is a subgroup of the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) created within the last year. For more information on OXCART please check our CART page.

CERT training is comprised of disaster preparedness, fire suppression, basic disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, disaster psychology, team organization and terrorism. The training concludes with a disaster simulation to practice skills learned throughout the course. For more information on CERT, please see our CERT page.

Our handouts provide information on our CART and CERT teams, as well as basic information for pet and livestock disaster preparedness.

We encourage questions and inquiries into the nature of our organization and the information we can provide to citizens of Oxford County to better prepare for emergency situations.

The newest addition to our Pet Preparedness display is the Pet First Aid kit supplied to us by the American Red Cross. This kit is available for a cost of $20 and all proceeds support the Oxford County Animal Response Team.

In addition to the booth, Ken also set-up a pet/car safety display. The car was parked with all four windows rolled down approximately 4 inches, yet within twenty minutes of installing the thermometer in the vehicle it maxed out at 120 degrees. The paper taped to the windshield indicates the effects on an animal of being left in the vehicle under such conditions for a prolonged period of time.

Yvette is working on Individual Preparedness in Oxford, Franklin and Androscoggin Counties through an AmeriCorp grant. She has spent a lot of time over the last few months helping out with projects and displays.

Pictured here are the contents of an Individual Preparedness Kit. It is 3 days worth of food, water and emergency supplies that would be necessary to shelter at home in the case of a power outage, winter storm or other emergency. For a comprehensive list of items, please see our Preparedness page.

Individual Preparedness handouts include supplies checklists, disaster coloring books for children, Red Cross Shelter locations, and resources for more information.

A Grab'N'Go bag is a collection of items to have in a backpack or tote in case you are alerted to leave your home and go to a shelter. Preparing the items ahead of time will save you the headache and time spent trying to locate items at a stressful time. In addition, it guarantees that you will have all necessary items.

Individual Preparedness Kits are an important family resource and can be assembled over a period of months, acquiring the individual components week-by-week. For a 6 month preparedness calendar, please see our Preparedness page.