Emergency Preparedness

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a nationally supported, locally implemented program that teaches people how to be better prepared for hazards that may impact their communities and trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Local CERT programs train and organize teams of volunteers to safely assist their families, neighbors, co-workers, and other community members during emergencies when professional responders may not be immediately able to provide assistance.

During disasters, CERT volunteer teams perform basic response activities, including checking in on their neighbors following an incident to make sure they are okay, distributing information to the public, supporting emergency operations centers, and helping to manage traffic and crowds. This allows professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex tasks. CERT volunteers also support their communities by organizing, promoting, and participating in emergency preparedness events, activities, and projects.

A college or university campus often functions as a “city within a city,” and often has its own emergency management capabilities. A Campus CERT program can support and enhance existing capabilities and CERT volunteers can participate in efforts to increase the preparedness and resilience of the on-campus community. The first people on the scene of an incident available to provide assistance are almost always other survivors including family members, neighbors, friends, co-workers, and classmates – not professional responders.

Providing training in basic response skills to the community means more people are prepared to help during an emergency. In addition, training and organizing volunteers into teams helps to ensure that they can provide assistance in a more effective, safe, and responsible manner. Campus CERT volunteers can also support the non-emergency needs of the college or university. For example, appropriately trained Campus CERT volunteers can help manage traffic and crowds at large sporting events or other major campus functions, such as graduation ceremonies. However, while CERT volunteers learn a variety of skills, they are not professional
responders and should not act beyond their training.

CERT members will be required to participate in multiple trainings and “table top” exercises to apply the training concepts.  Emergency Management will provide the listed training below, at a minimum, but additional training may be added over time and as appropriate.

• CERT Orientation & Welcome
  
  • A 30 minute welcome session that introduces the upcoming trainings and expectations of team members
• CERT Training Modules
  
  • A hybrid of virtual and in person lectures on the topics and in person hands on training for practical skills and training assessments (24 hours in total spread out over a year)
• Exercises
  
  • With the assistance of Emergency Management, CERT members will engage in simulations on topics they learned throughout the CERT program.

The recruitment, replacement, term of service, and indemnification of CERT members has been modified, reflective of the overall program revitalization.  

• Recruitment:  
  • CERT members from any department or building are eligible for this training.  This will include Graduate Students
  • CERT members may be recruited through periodic announcements in the Finance & Administration InBrief and the BUSAC updates or recommended by School and Division leaders.
  • Participation in the program is completely voluntary, similar to community service.  If an appointment is recommended by a Manager, the employee may decline the offer.
  • All initial and renewed appointments will require the permission of the candidate’s immediate supervisor to participate in the program. By providing staff the permission to participate in the program, supervisors will be expected to adjust staff workloads, within reason, to allow members to participate in the training.
• Replacement:
  • If for any reason a member is no longer able to perform in this role, they should notify the Director of Emergency Management, who will then initiate the process to seek a suitable replacement.
  • If a member is terminated from employment, the supervisor should notify the Director of Emergency Management who will then initiate the process to seek a suitable replacement.
• Terms of service: 
  • All current Building Safety Captains will be given the option of continuing in this new role; however, each will require approval from their supervisor as noted above.
  • There will be no fixed term of service for current or future CERT members .