The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began promoting the nationwide Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept in 1994. Since then, CERT’s have been established in hundreds of communities.

CERT training promotes a partnering effort between emergency services and the people that they serve. The goal is for emergency personnel to train members of neighborhoods, community organizations, or workplaces in basic response skills. CERT members are then integrated into the emergency response capability for their area.

If a disastrous event overwhelms or delays the community’s professional response, CERT members can assist others by applying the basic response and organizational skills that they learned during training. These skills can help save lives and sustain lives following a disaster until help arrives.

CERT members maintain and refine their skills by participating in exercises and activities. They can attend supplemental training opportunities, offered by the sponsoring agency and others that further their skills base. Finally, CERT members can volunteer for projects that improve community emergency preparedness.

CERT training will teach participants to: Describe the types 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 a disaster, identify and reduce potential fire hazards in their homes and workplaces, work as a team to solve different problems, apply techniques for opening airways, control bleeding and treat shock, conduct triage, perform head to toe assessments, select and set up treatment areas, identify planning and size-up requirements for potential search and rescue situations, use safe techniques for debris removal and victim extrication and describe ways to protect rescuers during search and rescue.

CERT training is designed to cover: Disaster Preparedness, Fire Safety, Disaster Medical Operations-Triage and Treating Life Threatening Injuries, Disaster Medical Operations-Assessment, Treatment and Hygiene, Light Search and Rescue, Team Organization, Disaster Psychology, Terrorism and CERT, and a Final Exercise. Training usually runs eight weeks.

For more information contact your local Emergency Management Office.

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