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Linda Botts The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept was
developed and implemented by the City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in
1985. They recognized that citizens
would very likely be on their own during the early stages of a catastrophic
disaster. Accordingly, LAFD decided
that some basic training in disaster survival and rescue skills would improve
the ability of citizens to survive until responders or other assistance could
arrive. The Whittier Narrows
earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in
California. Further, it confirmed
the need for training civilians to meet immediate post-disaster needs. The training program that the LAFD initiated proved to be
so beneficial that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) felt that the
concept and the program should be made available to communities nationwide.
In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in cooperation with
the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards. In 2003, President Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country. The Citizen Corps program was created to spearheaded this effort to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds. CERT was selected as one of the primary programs offered to the American public to meet this challenge.
Additional Information: Link to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) |
Randall
Fire organized the first CERT training program in Kenosha County, Wisconsin in January 2005. Since that date, several CERT training sessions have been conducted in and around Randall.