Old Mill Park Homeowners Association, Inc.

WHAT IS C.E.R.T. ?? UPDATED 10-20-2003

What caused C.E.R.T. to begin?

In September 1985 an earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter Scale hit Mexico City killing more than 10,000 people and injuring more than 30,000, Mexico City had no training program for the citizens prior to the disaster. However large groups of volunteers organized themselves as best they could and were credited with over 800 rescues, unfortunately, more than 100 of the rescuers themselves died during the 15 day rescue operation because of no training.

C.E.R.T. begins in the U.S.

In 1986 the City of Los Angeles Fire Department developed a pilot program to train a group of leaders in a neighborhood watch organization. A concept developed involving multi-function volunteer response teams with the training and ability to perform basic fire suppression, light search and rescue, and first aid. The first team of 30 people completed training in early 1986 and proved the concept was viable through various drills, demonstrations, and excercises.
In 1993 the Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA), decided to make the concept and the program availible to communities nationwide. The Emergency Management Institute, (EMI), in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards.
In 2002, CERT became part of the Citizens Corp. a unifying structure to link a variety of related volunteer activities to expand communities resources for crime prevention and emergency response.

Why do the CERT training?

It's like buying car insurance, you may never need it, you hope you never need it, but in this day and age if the occasion arises, having the CERT training means you are as ready as you can be to help yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood.
We will also intergrate the Crime Watch program with the CERT program, to include training for both.
C.E.R.T. membership is subject to a complete background check by law enforcement agencies.


UPDATE OCTOBER 20, 2003
I have spoke to Ginger Wells at the Marion County Emergency Management Agency, she is the coordinator for the C.E.R.T. program in Marion County, she has completed writing the Standard Operating Procedure for the C.E.R.T. program and is currently coordinating funding for equipment for each C.E.R.T. member. According to Ms. Wells, she hopes to have the class start-up date posted on the Emergency Management website within about 60 days.

Check out the links below to learn more.

Links

FEMA's CERT HOMEPAGE
Los Angeles Fire Department CERT page
Citizens Corp webpage