Certifying the Community to Assist in Disasters
When disaster strikes, first responders are often stretched thin, tackling life-threatening situations while trying to maintain order. That’s where a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) steps in. A nationwide initiative with more than 600,000 trained volunteers in 3,200 programs in all U.S. states and territories, CERT equips everyday citizens with the skills to assist their communities in times of crisis.
The CERT website notes the Los Angeles City Fire Department developed and implemented CERT in 1985. The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California and confirmed the need for training civilians to meet immediate needs. CERT became a national program in 1993.
CERT trains volunteers in fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT also offers programs customized for teens, workplaces, campus-specific situations, and leadership training. Exercises align with Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program guidance and principles. Local CERT programs tailor exercises to reflect realistic events that may impact that community.
Sunshine State CERT
The Coral Springs-Parkland CERT program—sponsored by the Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department—began in 2003 as part of an overall mission to build a force of volunteers to serve the city. Nearly 1,000 residents have completed the program, which currently has 56 active volunteers and six volunteer instructors teaching various elements of three academies each year.
“CERT instructors must complete the FEMA ‘train the trainer’ program,” said Joseph Chalom, Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department’s CERT program chief. “Jurisdictions retain the flexibility of how and when they run academies. Jurisdictions may use professional staff such as emergency managers or trained volunteers to instruct students.”
The Coral Springs-Parkland program has four basic life support and three Stop the Bleed volunteer instructors. Additional training includes medical operations, fire safety, missing person drills, mass casualty disaster drills, and search and rescue drills. Training may be in-person or combined with on-demand learning, with academies typically taking 24 to 28 hours to complete.
During extended events such as fire scenes, Special Response Teams, or SWAT scenes, Coral Springs-Parkland CERT provides “soft rehabilitation” such as hydration and nutrition to professional first responders, Chalom said.
“The Coral Springs-Parkland Fire Department has assigned our CERT two response vehicles packed with bottled water, Gatorade, snacks, towels for cooling firefighters, immersion or cooling chairs to assist in quickly cooling firefighters, tents to shelter responders from the sun and a misting fan for added relief from the heat,” he said.
CERT volunteers also aid with conducting searches for missing persons, damage surveys after a natural or manmade disaster, and wellness checks after a storm. They also provide public education at city events on the services they provide the community, CPR, and fire safety strategies.
Three Volunteer Stories
Jennifer Dow is an instructional designer, developing training materials and online courses for organizations and their employees. She joined the Coral Springs-Parkland CERT Team in June 2018 and joined its leadership team six months after that. She currently serves as the chief training officer.
“I wanted to find a way to give back to my community following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school tragedy and I also wanted to learn basic first aid and CPR in case my loved ones needed it,” Dow said.
Dow used those skills when her husband, who has been battling cancer, had some life-threatening episodes. “Once he passed out and fell, and I was able to assess his condition, check his vitals, and move him using log roll and blanket drag,” she said.
Dow responds to activations when CERT is requested to extended scenes. She also backs up the program chief with dispatch. She has an emergency vehicle operator course (EVOC) certification and helps drive the canteen to the scene.
Carol Sjursen is the Florida CERT Association public information chair and a member of its board of directors, helping plan conferences for advanced training. She is active with the Coral Springs-Parkland CERT Team and serves as the Volunteer CERT Program Manager for the Deerfield Beach CERT team.
“As a Realtor, I have a firm belief in giving back to the communities I serve,” Sjursen said. “I heard about the CERT program and the training it gave for free and realized the value it could provide. I took my CERT basic training course in Coral Springs in 2003 and have remained very active ever since at the local, state, and national levels.”
Sjursen pointed out that following a disaster or a major incident such as the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, first responders become quickly overwhelmed.
“Trained and vetted CERT members, following the incident command system, become a force-multiplier extending the capabilities of those first responders by handling lower-priority tasks, allowing professionals to focus on high-priority activities,” she said.
The training CERT members receive ensures they work with first responders, not against them, reducing chaos in a crisis, noted Sjursen.
“As their training includes basic medical operations, CERT teams have been used to run first aid stations taking care of the minor injuries, freeing up the paramedics to handle the more pressing calls,” Sjursen said. “They have provided crowd control at events such as parades and have worked alongside of public safety entities at public education events.”
Teams participate in regular drills, Sjursen said. They also participate in Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program full scale exercises as victims, enabling professionals to have a realistic training experience. “Coral Springs/Parkland CERT just hosted a county-wide MCI drill, exercising our search and rescue, triage, transport and medical skills,” she said. “Fort Lauderdale just hosted a two-day CERT deployment drill, setting up a full base camp so CERT members could know what to expect if they were called upon to deploy to an area affected by a disaster.”
Chuck James has been involved with CERT in Coral Springs for five years after moving from northern Virginia where he was a sales executive for major technology companies before retiring.
“I wanted to not only give back to my new community, but also learn about how to make my family, home, and neighborhood safe,” James said. He has provided food, shelter, and water to first responders at major fire scenes.
“I have also searched for a lost young man in Coral Springs,” he said. “I work to provide information to the community in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and child safety in the home.”
James said his biggest challenge was training and working with the community during COVID. Classes were conducted online and outdoors. “Another challenge is staying current as we are occasionally activated,” he said, adding monthly drills and exercises to practice skills mitigates that.
One memorable call for James took place on a Saturday before Christmas in 2021.
“We responded to two major fires in Coral Springs the same day, an anomaly for our CERT team. Our team activated, rushing to the second fire, just after the first,” he said. “Those poor families had lost their homes. There were young children that lost all their toys. Our high school CERT member comforted [kids and their parents], reassuring them until the Red Cross arrived.”
The CERT team helped maintain the scene, providing food, water, and rest to first responders.
James was recently honored by the Coral Springs as CERT Member of the Year. In 2024, James volunteered more than 70 times.
Advice for Getting Started
Chalom said CERT training and engagement opens a portal to other volunteer programs, such as assisting communities with amateur radio and the National Weather Service Skywarn program. “CERT is composed of volunteers providing valuable free human resources to help complement their sponsoring agency,” he said. “CERT training empowers community members to better help themselves, their neighbors, and their community. This training may save lives.”
“Our most important rule is safety first,” Chalom said on risk management. “CERT members are primarily support personnel and are not put in harm’s way. If a CERT member becomes ill or has an accident during a city or CERT event, they are covered under the city workers’ compensation insurance.”
The first step in starting a CERT program is to identify program goals such as who will lead it, who will train volunteers, and the launch date, Chalom said. “The state Division of Emergency Management, FEMA.gov and their state CERT association may all be great resources,” he said.
Program costs vary depending on the mission. Jurisdictions may assign older response vehicles to CERT and grants may be available from state or private organizations. “Some jurisdictions exclusively use CERT for public education while others activate CERT to provide support on active scenes,” he said.
The two biggest challenges for a CERT program is to market the program and keep members engaged, Chalom said.
