Community Emergency Response Team Member
SACRAMENTO CERT is a team of community members working and/or residing in Sacramento, CA and surrounding communities who have been trained, in cooperation with the Sacramento City Fire Department (SFD) to respond to an emergency in their neighborhood, workplace, or wherever the need may arise.
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training program that educates volunteer members about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills.
In an emergency CERT teams are under the direction of local public safety services emergency responders. CERT team members help provide critical support by giving immediate assistance to victims, providing damage assessment information, conducting search and rescue operations, disaster medical operations, and organizing other volunteers at a disaster site. Volunteers trained in CERT also offer a potential workforce for performing duties such as shelter support, crowd control, and evacuation.
CERT members are truly the First Responders in their own neighborhoods or work places until professional help can arrive. In a disaster that could be days. The role of a CERT volunteer is to help others until professional emergency personnel arrive. If activated by an Emergency Operations Center, the Fire Department alerts deployable CERT members to report to pre-designated areas.
CERT helps the community in other ways. In addition to supporting emergency responders during a disaster, the CERT program builds strong working relationships between emergency responders and the community. CERT teams also help the community year-round, by helping with community emergency plans, neighborhood exercises, preparedness outreach, fire safety education, and workplace safety programs.
Who should take CERT training? Anyone interested in taking an active role in hometown preparedness; neighborhood watch groups, parents, student, teachers, scouting and youth organizations, community leaders, communities of faith, administrators and members of clubs, and civic organizations.
In 95 percent of all emergencies, the victim or bystander provides the first immediate assistance on the scene. Would you know what to do? No matter where you live, no matter who you are, we all have a role in hometown preparedness. What role will YOU play?
