In the havoc following a major disaster, first responders may not be able to meet the overwhelming demand for emergency services. According to the Citizen Corps Web site www.citizencorps.gov, the large number of calls, potential victims, communication failures and impassable roads will likely prevent citizens from receiving expected immediate response from emergency services upon dialing 911. Residents, the Web site states, must rely on one another for help to meet their immediate life-saving and life-sustaining needs.



"When we talk about any kind of disaster, we know that the very first people on the scene are neighbors and local citizens," said Deborah Staigerwald, emergency management coordinator for the Maryland Governor's Office on Service and Volunteerism, at the 2006 Mid-Atlantic All-Hazards Forum in October. "When there's a disaster, many people want to help; it's human nature. So we have something called spontaneous volunteers -- something happens and people rush to the scene, which causes mass chaos."



That was the outcome after a large earthquake in Mexico City in 1985 -- untrained, spontaneous volunteers saved 800 people in the 15 days following the catastrophe, but 100 of them died in the process, according to the Los Angeles Community Emergency Response Team's (CERT) Web site www.cert-la.com.



Through organized training, this type of loss is preventable. And since it's expected that emergency services will be strained following a major disaster -- especially if there's little or no warning, such as in an earthquake or tsunami -- and that people will spontaneously volunteer, government can prepare its citizens for this contingency.



"While people will respond to others in need without training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger," said Sheriff James Cummings, emergency management director for Barnstable County, Mass.





Born in the '80s

The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Web site www.lasd.org. Then in 1987, the Whittier Narrows earthquake emphasized the threat of a major disaster in California, as well as confirmed the need to train civilians to meet their immediate needs. As a result, the LAFD created the Disaster Preparedness Division to train citizens, and private and government employees.



Because the Los Angeles CERT program garnered such success, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) felt it should be made available to communities nationwide, according to the Citizen Corps Web site. In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute, in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards.



In 2003, President George W. Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in the service of their country. The Citizen Corps program was created to unite the power of each individual through education, training and volunteer service.



"The Citizen Corps Councils are all about bringing together civic leadership in your community at the local level -- people who are interested in making your community safer, stronger and better prepared for disasters of all kinds," said Staigerwald.



The CERT program is just one program within the Citizen Corps organization.



Nationwide, 14,000 Citizen Corps volunteers -- many of them CERT volunteers -- were actively involved in Katrina response and recovery efforts. As recognized in The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned, "The federal response should better integrate the contributions of volunteers and nongovernmental organizations [NGOs] into the broader national effort. This integration would be best achieved at the state and local levels, prior to future incidents. In particular, state and local governments must engage NGOs in the planning process, credential their personnel and provide them the necessary resource support for their involvement in a joint response."





During a Disaster

Damage from disasters varies considerably from one location to another. In a disaster, CERT members are deployed progressively according to emergency needs, the Citizen Corps Web site states. Members are taught to assess their own needs and needs of those in their immediate environment first -- family, neighbors and community.



According to the CERT training manual, members might be called in by officials and asked to report to a designated staging area, where they will be assigned roles based on needs.



"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," said Chrystal LaPine, emergency commander of the Cape Cod CERT, "our CERT was deployed in several activities dealing with the evacuees that Massachusetts welcomed to our area, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency."



The CERT performed many other tasks over an almost three-month period.



"Our folks operated and staffed a warehouse for needed supplies, babysat children, manned the command post, organized and managed more than 250 spontaneous volunteers, installed smoke detectors in the sleeping quarters," LaPine said, "and did whatever needed to be done, because the emergency services personnel were busy."



Members of the first class offered by the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office in Cape Cod completed their training in September 2004, and several members were deployed to Atlanta to assist FEMA teams during Hurricane Ivan a few months later. CERT members served in many roles, LaPine said, and several have completed additional training and been redeployed. Trained CERT volunteers are also a potential work force to service organizations performing nonhazardous functions, such as shelter support, crowd control and evacuation.





All Bases Covered

Cities from Mountain View, Calif., to St. Louis, note that the CERT program provides an effective first-response capability. Acting as individuals first and team members later, trained CERT volunteers can -- providing they feel safe to do so -- assist with tasks they have been trained to perform, such as fire safety, medical aid, and basic search and rescue.



CERT volunteers are generally covered by "Good Samaritan" laws, which protect individuals assisting in emergency situations against lawsuits, provided they are acting in a prudent and reasonable manner.



In a disaster, the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997 also protects CERT volunteers from liability -- as long as they are acting in accordance with the training they received.



Responder safety is a key topic repeated throughout the training program. Effective response requires comprehensive planning and coordination of all involved -- government, volunteer groups, private businesses, schools and community organizations. "With training and information, individuals and civic groups can be prepared to serve as a crucial resource to perform many emergency functions needed in the immediate post-disaster period until the professionals can respond," the Web site states.



Using CERT volunteers in emergency situations is valuable to first responders and the community.



"Some still aren't sold on the idea," said Suzanne Simmons, volunteer coordination program manager for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, "but those who do, like Pittsylvania and Danville -- and anybody who's had a disaster since this started -- are sold on them. It helps free up the first responders."



Staigerwald agreed. "If you have citizens already trained in preparedness, if you have citizens who can take care of themselves and their neighbors before the emergency responders show up, then the community's going to benefit," she said. "And in times of great disaster when the emergency responders are so overwhelmed, hopefully the more citizens we have trained, the better off we'll all be."



James Tuffey, former director of the New York State Office of Emergency Management, and current chief of police in Albany, N.Y., said CERTs are a big part of assisting localities, especially if they are geared toward sheltering and emergency points of dispensing sites, where citizens who need medication can get it quickly. "These areas are extremely exposed to staffing shortages, but really where the most vital help is needed for major events."





Training

To become a CERT member, one usually must undergo nearly 18 hours of training dispensed over a seven-week period. "CERTs are the active piece of the volunteer program that trains citizens to be prepared for disasters," Staigerwald said. "CERT training includes disaster preparedness, light urban search and rescue, fire safety, basic medical principles, teamwork and the incident command system, disaster psychology, terrorism preparedness -- and they have a final exercise."



The classroom sessions are taught by professional emergency responders, and are generally supplemented by in-class discussions, team-building exercises and practical hands-on training, where the team concept is stressed.



Should the team be deployed, individuals who do not want to get involved with the medical response or a search and rescue mission must simply notify the team leader and they will be assigned to another, more appropriate task.



Disaster response training should not be considered a one-time occurrence. Awareness, commitment and skills must be reinforced through refresher courses and continuing training programs. These are skills that may not be used often, so it is extremely important to maintain or improve performance.





Cause and Effect

CERT was selected as one of the leading programs offered to citizens nationwide to meet the president's challenge. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are currently more than 2,300 CERTs registered nationwide.



The DHS's goal is for approximately 70 percent of the population to be trained to help in some capacity during a major disaster.



"We will never forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but we can use the memory of that day to focus on our responsibilities to help our families and our community be safer from threats of all kinds," said Barnstable County's Cummings. "This is the heart of the CERT program."