CERT is a nationally supported, locally implemented community preparedness and volunteer capability-building approach. It educates volunteers in how to prepare for hazards that may affect their community and trains them in basic, safety-focused response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and team organization, and disaster medical operations. enabling them to act in the early phase of an incident, before professional responders arrive or when systems are strained.
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CERT - Community Emergency Response Team
General Information
ISIG
CERT strengthens local resilience by creating a structured pathway for community members to become trained volunteers and to integrate safely into formal response structures. The programme emphasizes role clarity and coordination: CERT operations are designed to align with the Incident Command System (ICS), including communications, volunteer management, and integration with emergency management partners.
CERT was developed in the context of recognizing that major disasters can create area-wide disruption and immediate needs that cannot be met by professional responders alone in the first phase of an incident. The concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985, with the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscoring the area-wide threat of major disaster and confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs.
CERT became a national program in 1993 and operates nationwide with local programs across all 50 states (including many tribal nations and U.S. territories). More than 3,200 local CERT programs have been implemented and more than 600,000 people have been trained since CERT became a national program.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Geographical Scope
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
CERT addresses a practical and recurring response gap: during major disasters, professional responders can be delayed or overwhelmed, while residents still face urgent immediate needs. The program responds by building a trained volunteer base that can take safe, basic actions and support community response in the early phase of an incident. CERT enables responders to rely on a consistent approach for volunteer training and organization, allowing professional responders to focus on more complex tasks.
More specifically, the case targets:
- Early-phase household and neighborhood needs when services are disrupted and help is delayed (immediate safety actions, basic aid, organized support).
- Lack of structured volunteer capability: without training and organization, civilian response can be unsafe or inefficient; CERT provides a standardized curriculum and materials to create a reliable volunteer capability.
- Need for readiness maintenance: CERT emphasizes drills and exercises to assess and improve plans and operations, using principles aligned with HSEEP.
- Risk management for volunteers and programs: a CERT liability guide to support education on liability and risk management, reinforcing safe and responsible participation.
CERT is intended for the general public and is often adapted for specific settings and populations. Information available on the website explicitly highlights customized programs for teens, college campuses, and workplaces, indicating targeted engagement for groups and environments with distinct preparedness needs and responsibilities.
The program’s primary “vulnerability” focus is capability-based: equipping ordinary residents to act safely and help their households and neighbors when formal response resources are limited.
This is a centralized national framework with decentralized local delivery. FEMA provides the standardized program approach, training content and guidance, while CERT is implemented through thousands of local programs across US states and territories.
CERT supports organized response capacity at community level by training and organizing volunteers in standardized, safety-focused disaster response skills (e.g., fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, disaster medical operations). FEMA frames CERT as enabling responders to rely on a consistent approach for volunteer organization during disasters, allowing professional responders to focus on more complex tasks.
CERT does not depend on advanced infrastructure; it is a human-capability and local organization model.
The purpose of engagement is to build and sustain community surge capacity by recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers who can take safe initial actions and support response structures during emergencies. Engagement also aims to keep readiness active over time through drills and exercises that assess and improve plans and operations and are tailored to realistic local events.
Engagement is delivered through a structured training-and-practice pathway:
- CERT Basic Training, supported by standardized materials (instructor guides, participant manuals, and hazard annex slide decks).
- Free Independent Study courses that are accessible to anyone and can support broader reach and refresher learning.
- Exercises and drills developed to improve plans and operations, aligned with HSEEP principles and adapted to local realistic scenarios.
- Program variants tailored to specific settings and groups (teens, college campuses, workplaces), enabling engagement where people live, learn, and work.
- Liability/risk management guidance to support safe volunteer participation and program operation.
Decision-making for emergency operations remains with formal emergency management and response authorities. CERT increases community influence at the operational level by enabling residents to take safe immediate actions, organize into trained teams, and support response under a consistent approach that responders can rely on.
CERT builds long-term capability through standardized training plus ongoing readiness maintenance. FEMA highlights the use of drills and exercises (aligned with HSEEP principles) to assess and improve plans and operations and recommends tailoring exercises to realistic local events.
This makes capability durable: skills are learned, practiced, and refreshed, creating sustained community surge capacity and resilience over time.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
CERT’s key implementation feature is a standardized, nationwide volunteer training and organization model that can be delivered locally and relied on during disasters. It is a consistent approach to volunteer training and organization that helps professional responders focus on more complex tasks.
Implementation is strengthened through a structured training package (research-validated guidance, instructor guides, participant manuals, and hazard annex slide decks) and a readiness maintenance loop using drills and exercises aligned with HSEEP principles and tailored to realistic local events.
A further innovation is adaptability by setting: there are customized CERT programs for teens, college campuses, and workplaces.
Main language is English; local programs may deliver training in additional languages depending on community needs (not specified in the FEMA overview print).
The programme is supported nationally by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and implemented through local CERT programs.
The implementing organization FEMA (supporting the national CERT framework) has extensive disaster risk management experience. CERT became a national program in 1993 and is now implemented across all 50 states, including many tribal nations and U.S. territories, with 3,200+ local programs and 600,000+ people trained since becoming national.
This reflects long-term institutional capacity to maintain standardized preparedness training, guidance materials, and nationally accessible learning pathways that local programs can implement and sustain.
National level (framework + training support):
- FEMA / national CERT program provides the standardized CERT approach and supports access to training pathways, including free Independent Study courses.
Local level (delivery + coordination):
- Local CERT programs (sponsoring/host organizations) deliver CERT Basic Training and manage local CERT operations.
- CERT instructors and local program leadership organize training, team structure, and readiness maintenance.
- CERT volunteers (community members) participate in training and serve as organized teams that can support disaster response.
Response system interface (integration):
- Professional responders and local emergency management partners coordinate with CERT; FEMA’s framing is that responders can rely on a consistent volunteer training/organization approach during disasters.
Setting-specific partners (program variants):
- Schools/educational settings (teens), colleges/universities (campuses), and employers/workplaces where customized CERT programs are implemented.
- Establish local sponsorship and structure: set up a CERT program under a local host/sponsor and define leadership roles and how the program links to local emergency management partners.
- Deliver CERT Basic Training: conduct training for community members using standardized CERT materials (instructor guides, participant manuals, hazard annex slide decks), covering core skills including fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.
- Expand access via online learning: integrate FEMA Independent Study courses (free and open) to broaden access, support prerequisites/refreshers, and reinforce ICS-aligned understanding and introductory learning.
- Organize volunteers into teams: establish team roles, operating procedures, and safe boundaries for volunteer action; clarify coordination expectations so responders can rely on consistent volunteer organization.
- Maintain readiness through exercises: run drills and exercises to assess and improve plans and operations, built using HSEEP principles and adapted to realistic local events.
- Manage risk and liability: incorporate liability/risk-management education using the CERT Liability Guide and local policies.
- Tailor by setting where relevant: implement customized CERT variants (teens, college campuses, workplaces) to fit different environments and participant needs.
Implementing CERT requires a mix of human, organizational, and training resources:
- Human resources: a local program sponsor/host organization, CERT program coordinator, qualified instructors, and volunteer team leadership to recruit, train, and maintain readiness.
- Training package and materials: access to standardized CERT training resources, including instructor guides, participant manuals, and hazard annex slide decks, plus space and logistics for training delivery.
- Learning pathway access: use of FEMA’s free Independent Study courses as entry learning or refreshers (e.g., IS-317.A and IS-315.A).
- Exercise capacity: time, facilitation, scenario design, and coordination for drills and exercises that assess and improve plans and operations, aligned with HSEEP principles and tailored to realistic local events.
- Risk management and governance: adoption of safety procedures and use of liability/risk-management guidance (CERT Liability Guide) to support safe participation and responsible program operation.
CERT is implemented as a repeating capability-building cycle rather than a one-time project:
- Phase 1 — Setup: local sponsorship and program organization; establish training capacity and coordination links.
- Phase 2 — Training rollout: deliver CERT Basic Training using standardized materials; onboard volunteers and form teams.
- Phase 3 — Sustainment: maintain capability over time through periodic drills and exercises to assess and improve plans and operations (HSEEP-aligned), supported by refresher learning and guidance.
- Phase 4 — Contextual adaptation: adjust training emphasis and activities to local hazards and specific settings (teens, campuses, workplaces) while maintaining the core CERT structure.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
The programme design contains clear embedded lessons:
- Early capacity matters: in large incidents, community members may need to manage immediate needs until responders arrive; building trained volunteer capacity reduces preventable harm.
- Reliability requires standardization: responder trust improves when volunteers use a consistent approach to training and organization, allowing professionals to focus on complex tasks.
- Preparedness decays without practice: regular drills and exercises are necessary to assess and improve plans and maintain readiness over time.
Volunteer action must be safe and governed: liability and risk management education supports responsible participation and reduces harm.
CERT operates in the context that major incidents can overwhelm or delay professional response capacity, while immediate needs still exist at household and neighborhood level. A challenge is maintaining capability over time: volunteer skills and coordination procedures can degrade without practice. Another challenge is managing safety and responsibility, since unstructured volunteer action can increase risk for volunteers and responders.
CERT addresses these challenges through standardization and continuous practice. FEMA provides a consistent training and organization approach that responders can rely on during disasters. The programme emphasizes maintaining readiness through drills and exercises that assess and improve plans and operations, designed using HSEEP principles and tailored to realistic local scenarios. It also promotes safe participation and risk management through liability guidance (CERT Liability Guide).
CERT is a preparedness and risk-reduction approach that is applicable across hazards. It mitigates risk by increasing the community’s ability to take safe initial actions and organize early support before or alongside professional response. The programme reinforces mitigation through training, structured volunteer organization, and ongoing exercises to improve operational readiness.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
CERT is sustained through a durable institutional model: a nationally supported framework and training approach combined with decentralized local delivery through thousands of local programs. Its sustainability relies on continued local sponsorship, instructor capacity, volunteer recruitment/retention, and routine readiness maintenance through exercises. Because the program is training- and organization-based (not infrastructure-heavy), it can be sustained over time through recurring community engagement and integration into local preparedness routines.
CERT scales well because the program package is standardized while implementation is local. The standardized training and materials can be replicated across communities, and local programs can tailor emphasis to local hazards and realistic scenarios. FEMA also enables scalability through free, publicly accessible online courses and by supporting customized variants for different settings (teens, college campuses, workplaces), making the approach adaptable to where people live, learn, and work.
Transferability to other countries is conceptually strong, but requires localization: integration with the national/local incident management system, volunteer liability frameworks, responder coordination protocols, and hazard-specific annex content must be adapted to local governance and legal contexts.
CERT’s innovation is primarily organizational and social, not technological: a standardized training-and-organization approach that produces reliable volunteer capability and supports professional responders.
Technology supports reach and sustainment via free online learning pathways, but the core model remains low-tech and usable under disrupted conditions.
No consolidated public data was available that separates national-level direct “setup” costs for CERT. Direct costs are typically distributed across local programs and include instructor time, training delivery logistics, and local program setup.
No consolidated public figure was available on recurring operational costs for CERT as a national total. Operational costs are generally ongoing and distributed across local sponsors/programs (volunteer management, periodic trainings, exercises, coordination, and program administration).
CERT demonstrates that community preparedness scales when volunteers are trained and organized in a consistent way that responders can rely on, and when capability is sustained through practice rather than one-time training. The program also shows that structured volunteer engagement benefits from clear safety boundaries and liability/risk-management guidance, and that adaptability improves when the same framework can be deployed in different settings (youth, campuses, workplaces) without changing the core principles.