CERT Training Teaches Citizens How to Assist First Reponders During Major Incidents

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Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) are made of up citizens who are trained by firefighting and EMS personnel to assist in the events of a natural disaster or large emergency incident. Following a major disaster, fire and EMS first responders will not be able to respond to each emergency situation related to the disaster due to the scope of the incident, possible road blockages and communication system failures. Naturally, private citizens will begin to help one another. Knowing this, many communities across the United States have formed CERT training programs that will teach citizens how to effectively respond to the needs of their families and neighbors in the time before first responders can arrive.

The concept of CERT began in 1985 when members of the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) responded to the Mexico City Earthquake. There they witnessed 800 private citizens spontaneously volunteer to help with the rescue efforts after the earthquake. Untrained, 100 of these citizens perished. Recognizing the need for community volunteers in the event of a massive incident and seeing the important of training them properly, they began a citizen training program in Los Angeles in 1987 in direct response to the Whittier Narrows Earthquake. The LAFD formed the Disaster Preparedness Division to train residents, business owners and government employees about disaster preparedness and how to help their own families and neighbors during a major crisis.

Recognizing the importance of the LAFD's program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) developed guidelines for CERT training and made them available nationwide, and now globally through the Citizens Corps Program. The Emergency Management Institute and National Fire Academy adopted and expanded CERT material making it applicable to various types of hazards ranging from wildfires to earthquakes to floods and everything in between.

Since 1993, communities in 28 states and Puerto Rico have conducted CERT training using FEMA's guidelines. Communities schedule approximately 27 hours of training over a 7 week period. One city that presents two sets of CERT courses a year free of charge is Corona, California. According to Lynn Mata the Corona Fire Department's Emergency Services Coordinator, "We cover fire safety, search and rescue, basic first aid, and so they have all of the skills they need. I think an earthquake is a likely response scenario because Southern California has such potential for a large scale earthquake." Upon completion of the course, successful CERT trainees will be able to manage utilities and extinguish small fires, perform basic CPR including opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating patients for shock, safely search for victims and perform rescues, and will be able to organize themselves and non-trained spontaneous volunteers effectively.

Graduates are encouraged to return each year for refresher training and have used their knowledge in a variety of situations. 2002 CERT Graduate and Corona resident, Doe Ries, has participated in multiple years. He values what he has learned and has used his incident command training in various community events as a volunteer. Firefighters also appreciate the efforts of the CERT volunteers and the help that they give first responders. John Deyoe, a Firefighter/Paramedic with the Corona Fire Department, echoes this sentiment saying, "I really applaud these people for dedicating their own time on a weekend, on a few different weekends, to share in the common interest I have, and that's helping the community."

For information on how to form a CERT program to assist your fire department, click here.