CERT Basic Trainings

CERT training covers basic skills that are important to know in a disaster when emergency services are not available. With training and practice, and by working as a team, you will be able to protect yourself and maximize your capability to help for the greatest number of people after a disaster.

There are 9 core units to CERT trainings.

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CERT Basic Unit 1: Disaster Preparedness

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Roles and Responsibilities for Community Preparedness: How everyone in a community has a role in disaster preparedness.

• Role of CERTs: CERT organization, disaster and non-disaster roles, and laws that protect disaster workers from liability.

• Elements of Disasters and Their Impact on Infrastructure: The potential effects of extreme emergencies and disasters on electrical service; emergency services; telephone communication; transportation; and availability of food, water, shelter, and fuel.

• Personal and Organizational Preparedness: How you can prepare in advance to improve the quality of your survival and to reduce the damage from hazards

CERT Unit 2: CERT Organization

In this unit, you will learn about:

• CERT Organization: How to organize and deploy

• CERT resources according to CERT organizational principles.

• CERT Size-up: How to conduct the continual data-gathering and evaluation process at the scene of a disaster or emergency. Rescuer Safety: How to protect your own safety and your buddy’s during search and rescue.

• Documentation: Strategies for documenting situation and resource status.

CERT Units 3 and 4: Disaster Medical Operations – Part 1 and Part 2

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Assisting Disaster Medical Operations: How to assist by controlling bleeding, maintaining normal body temperature, and more.

• Mass Casualty Incidents: How to assist first responders in responding to mass casualty incidents.

• Functions of Disaster Medical Operations: Major functions of disaster medical operations.

• Disaster Medical Treatment Areas: Types of medical treatment areas. Head-to-To Assessment: How to perform a head-to-toe assessment to identify and treat injuries.

• Public Health Considerations: How to maintain hygiene and sanitation.

CERT Unit 5: Disaster Psychology

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Disaster Psychology: The psychological impact a disaster has on rescuers and survivors, and lessons on providing components of “psychological first aid.”

• Caring for Yourself and Survivors: Steps volunteers can take individually and as part of a CERT before, following, and after a disaster.

CERT Unit 6: Fire Safety and Utility Controls

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Fire Chemistry: How fire occurs, classes of fire, and choosing the correct means to extinguish each type of fire.

• Fire Size-up Considerations: How to evaluate fires, assess firefighting resources and determine a course of action.

• Portable Fire Extinguishers: How to identify types of portable fire extinguishers and how to operate them.

• Fire Suppression Safety: How to decide if you should attempt to extinguish a fire; how to approach and extinguish a fire safely.

• Fire and Utility Hazards: How to identify potential fire and utility hazards in the home and workplace; how to implement successful fire prevention strategies.

CERT Unit 7: Light Search and Rescue Operations

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Search and Rescue Size-up: How to size up the situation in which the search and rescue teams will operate.

• Conducting Interior and Exterior Search Operations: How to search systematically for disaster survivors.

• Conducting Rescue Operations: Safe techniques for lifting, leveraging, cribbing, and survivor removal.

CERT Unit 8: Terrorism and CERT

In this unit, you will learn about:

• Terrorism: Defining terrorism, including the goals and tactics of some terrorist groups, and detailing how to respond when an active shooter is in your vicinity.

• Eight Signs of Terrorism: The eight signs of terrorism and how to report suspicious activity.

• Preparing for Your Neighborhood: Steps to take to be prepared at home, work, and in your neighborhood.

• Hazardous Materials (HazMat) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNe): Identifying some basic guidelines during a Hazmat or CBRNE event.

CERT Unit 9: Course Review, Final Exam and Disaster Simulation

This unit includes:

• A review of the key points from the course

• A final exam

• A final exercise