By LINDA HAASE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Palm Beach Post (Florida)
Copyright 2007 The Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Be prepared. It’s not just a Girl Scout motto.
For Boynton Beach Fire Rescue Deputy Chief Jim Ness, those are words to live by.
And that’s why he’s so eager to spread the word about the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), a group of volunteers trained to help before, during and after disasters. Volunteers receive training in damage assessment, fire suppression, search and rescue, first aid and disaster psychology. And there’s always a need for more helpers.
“The idea is to have neighbors helping neighbors. You can’t rely on government to meet everyone’s needs after a disaster. We need to be able to take care of ourselves,” said the 57-year-old suburban Lake Worth resident.
By becoming almost a mini fire rescue worker, CERT members are invaluable, said Ness. The next eight-week CERT class, open to city residents 18 and older, begins Feb. 8.
“It’s comforting when a storm is coming to know they are there,” he said about the 150 team members.
For Ness, who has been a full-time employee of Boynton’s fire rescue department since 1983, helping others has been a way of life.
He became enthralled with the emergency response program in 1975, when he got a chance to ride in an ambulance with a family friend who owned an ambulance service.
“I was hooked,” said Ness, who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Southern Illinois University and two associate degrees (arts and science) from Miami Dade Community College.
The next year, he joined the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department as an emergency medical technician.
Back then, the department had only one rescue unit. During those early years of EMS, when paramedics were in short supply, Ness also worked part time for the Military Park Fire Department and Boynton Beach Fire Rescue.
Things have changed a lot through the years, said Ness, who moved from Chicago to Boynton in 1972.
With more training and new medical and technological advances, it became a lot easier to save people, he said.
“It became so much more gratifying to help people. At first, we were just putting them on a stretcher and going as fast as we could to the hospital,” he said.
What are your hobbies?
Flying (he is a licensed pilot), playing the guitar and photography. He’s also an elder and vice president of the board of directors at his church, Son Life Lutheran.
Who is your hero?
“Any politician. It takes a lot of guts to be a politician these days, to put it all on the line and expose your life to everyone... To be able to do that is remarkable.”
Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?
“An astronaut or a scientist. I like to learn new things. That’s the thing about medicine and flying, you can always learn something new.”
What’s your biggest accomplishment?
“Being a part of this EMS system. When I retire and I look back, I will know that I made it a little better place to live, that I delivered babies, that I saved lives, that I made a difference in people’s lives.”
Do you have a motto or words you live by?
“One thing I learned early on is that there is a great deal of wisdom in the elderly if you take time to listen. By listening to people who have been there and done that, you learn a lot and avoid a lot of mistakes.”