CERT Training
Community Emergency Response Team

Are You Ready?   

Today, being prepared and trained for a disaster means far more than it did in the past. We just have to look at the natural catastrophes that have occurred around the world recently. Today being trained means you, members of your family and members of your community will be prepared for anything nature throws our way. That means less panic, better decision making and self-reliant individuals working together to ensure everyone’s safety.

The Need:

CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is based on a simple observation: in major emergencies, professional emergency services are overloaded immediately. For example, the San Ramon Valley has 41 firefighters, and approximately 15 sworn Police Officers on duty on any given day. That is approximately 60 first responders for a community of 150,000 people, which is adequate for normal emergencies, rescues and crimes. However, if a mass emergency traps or injures just 2 % of the inhabitants, there are instantly 3,000 victims, many with major injuries. Telephone lines and connections may fail from overload. Roads, electricity and other services may fail, hampering emergency services, and interfering with fuel and material supplies.  The benefit of having trained volunteers to assist our local first responders is quite clear.

If only professionals responded to an emergency that created 3,000 victims, three quarters of the victims could die while waiting for rescue. Most of these deaths could be prevented by simple rescue and first-aid procedures. In these environments, CERT volunteers are far more effective than untrained civilians. With less than 40 hours of training, a volunteer emergency responder becomes qualified to perform about 95% of needed emergency services. This means that 95% of the rescues, life-saving triage and first-aid procedures can be completed in the "golden day," the first 24 hours when rescues and first-aid are most likely to succeed.

In a major emergency, the community will require mass emergency services. Although amateurs are not able to work as skillfully as professionals, they can do a lot.

The Program:

The CERT Program educates people about disaster preparedness for 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. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members are also encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking an active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community.

The CERT classes are one day a week for six weeks, generally on Thursday nights from 6:00p.m.-9:30p.m. Each class offers students the opportunity to actively participate during hands-on portions, culminating with a drill on the last day that incorporates what students have learned. The classes take place at the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District Administration Office, at 1500 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon. The first CERT class was completed on March 23, 2006.  (For those of you who completed our 3-Day PLAN program, we are looking into how to convert that time toward the required CERT time.  Check our website for updates and classes.)

To sign-up for CERT, visit our website at www.srvfire.com.   For questions and requests regarding CERT, please email Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Danielle Bell.   If you don’t have access to the internet, you may contact Danielle at (925) 838-6697.  Due to the high interest in the CERT program by residents, email is the preferred method of communication.  In addition, the CERT program does not necessitate use of email for contact purposes.  Visit the website to read more about CERT and view the current schedule of classes.  In your email, please include which class you would like to attend, as well as your physical address.  

CERT Contact: CERT@SRVFIRE.CA.GOV

PEP Contact: Administration – 925-838-6600

     SRV Fire prepares for everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is an all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation.

     CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to:

     Manage utilities and put out small fires.
     Treat the three medical killers by:

           1.)  Opening airways

           2.)  Controlling bleeding
           3.)  Treating for shock 
     Provide basic medical aid
     Search for and rescue victims safely
     Organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective, and collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts.
 

Why Do The CERT Training?

     Well, it's like paying for car insurance. You might never need either; you'd hope not to. But if the occasion arises, having the CERT training, just like having car insurance, means you're as ready as you can be to help yourself, your family and your neighborhood.

     Volunteers may be the first responders on the scene after a major earthquake or other disaster. They will be ineffective or at personal risk unless they have received proper disaster response training. The CERT program provides this crucial training. 

     If you want to learn how to prepare yourself, but are not sure about volunteering for the Fire District, you should take PEP.

Steps for joining CERT training: 

1. Qualifications: You must live or work within the boundaries served by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.
    
2. Be at least 13 years of age.
    
3. Agree to a two-year commitment  
   • Attend one district event and one citywide event annually.
   • Maintain current contact information.
      
4. Please contact your CERT Coordinator.  (please include your home address and cross street).   
    
5. Make new friends and have fun by participating with your CERT Zone.
    
6. Attend the six-week FEMA CERT Course at San Ramon Valley Fire. Classes are taught in the evenings at the administration building located at 1500 Bollinger Canyon Road in SR. Some drills will be combined with Contra Costa Fire and held at their local training center in Concord.
    
7. CERT classes will be first come first basis. Graduates of the six-week course receive a certificate of completion and a CERT Badge.
    
8. To sign up for CERT please email CERT@srvfire.ca.gov with the class you would like to join.
    

You do not have to complete the six-week course to join CERT. Graduates of the six-week course receive a certificate of completion and a CERT Badge.

Cost: Free

Night drill at Sta. 38 with CERT instructor Lucas Hirst

Click here: More about the CERT program