Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a neighborhood-based team that receives special training to recognize, respond to, and recover from disasters and emergencies. CERT was created to help coordinate volunteer activities that will make our communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to any emergency. The CERT program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may occur where they live. The program offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. It provides opportunities for people to participate in a range of measures to make their families, their homes, and their communities safer from the threats of crime, terrorism, and disasters of all kinds.

Following a major disaster, the first responders, who provide fire and medical services, will not initially be able to meet the demand for these services. Factors such as number of victims, communication failures, and road blockages will prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment’s notice through 911. People will have to rely on each other for help to meet their immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining needs. One expects that under these kinds of conditions, family members, fellow employees, and neighbors will spontaneously try to help each other. This was the case following the 1987 Mexico City earthquake where 100 untrained, spontaneous volunteers died while attempting to save others. Results like this are mostly preventable through training.

A key factor for CERT members is the ability to spontaneously organize and activate themselves in the event of a major disaster. If there is a significant earthquake, phones and other communications channels may be interrupted. CERT members will know where to go, how to organize their efforts, and will get to work without any specific order being issued. A CERT member’s first responsibility is to his or herself, then his or her family, and finally his or her community. If you become a CERT member, you will learn about important life-safety support techniques. You will, however, not be expected to place yourself in dangerous situations, either in the training or when a disaster strikes.