Community Emergency Response Team
GET PREPARED TODAY!
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Following a major disaster, the response of any community’s emergency services may be delayed or overwhelmed for a variety of reasons. This leaves the citizens of the community – family, neighbors, and co-workers – to provide for their own well-being and safety until professional responders arrive. The City of Yucaipa’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training provides citizens with the basic skills they will need to protect themselves, their family, and neighbors, and to respond to the immediate needs of the community in the aftermath of a disaster when emergency services are not readily available.
The purpose of the Yucaipa CERT program is to do the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number of People in the Shortest Amount of Time by always considering SAFETY! SAFETY! SAFETY! By working together, CERT members can assist in saving lives and protecting property using the basic techniques in this course. The CERT program is about readiness, people helping people, and rescuer safety. The program provides a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens will initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. CERT is a community based volunteer effort and is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and Citizen Corps program.
The CERT program strives to familiarize citizens with the facts about what to expect following a major disaster in their community and to deliver the message about their responsibility for mitigation and preparedness. Through a number of hands-on sessions they receive training in needed life saving skills with emphasis on decision making, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number. CERT groups are known and trusted resources to emergency responders and their communities and, as a member of CERT, you may respond to disasters and participate in drills, exercises, and City events.
Who do I Contact for More Information?
If you have general questions or are interested in attending a CERT training, please call the City of Yucaipa at 909-797-2489, ext. 260 or email Trevor Benson at tbenson@yucaipa.org.
Watch the Basic C.E.R.T. Training Video!
CERT Course Preview – The CERT program includes eight units delivered over a 20-hour period:
- Disaster Preparedness – Unit 1
- Fire Safety & Utility Controls – Unit 2
- Disaster Medical Operations – Unit 3 & 4
- Light Search & Rescue Operations – Unit 5
- CERT Organization- Unit 6
- Disaster Psychology – Unit 7
- CERT & Terrorism – Unit 8