The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.

CERT 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.

CERT is about readiness, people helping people, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can make a difference.

Through training, citizens can manage utilities and put out small fires; treat the three killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock; provide basic medical aid; search for and rescue victims safely; and organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective.

CERT members are a group of residents that share the same concerns as one another, that being “what will happen after a major event in our community” the answer in short is a group of individuals respond to the needs of their community these members are like minded and take this program and prepare to serve their community following such incidents as Hurricane, Tornado, Flooding and black outs.

These members quickly become part of the first responder community and for many become part of the bigger picture in the community. And these are the people who are there when the 9-1-1 system is in undated and cannot get to the people as seen on an average day in our communities across the nation.