About CERT
Mission
Community Emergency Response Team's (CERT) mission is
simple:
"Do the greatest good for
the greatest number of people" when a major disaster
strikes our community.
CERTs are formed by members of a neighborhood or
workplace who want to be better prepared for the hazards
that threaten their communities. Your Lomita CERT
Volunteers in cooperation with the Los Angeles County Fire
Department are committed to this community's disaster
preparation.
Lomita CERT provides the necessary training required by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to our
fellow citizens. When a major disaster does strike, you
will have the skills and knowledge to assist neighbors,
co-workers and professional rescue personnel. Your
leadership and care will help those around you after a
major disaster until professional emergency services
arrive.
History
The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the
City of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. They
recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own
during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster.
Accordingly, LAFD decided that some basic training in
disaster survival and rescue skills would improve the
ability of citizens to survive until responders or other
assistance could arrive. The Whittier Narrows earthquake
in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major
disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for
training civilians to meet immediate emergency needs.
The training program that the LAFD initiated proved to be
so beneficial that the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) felt that the concept and the program should be
made available to communities nationwide. In 1994, the
Emergency Management Institute (EMI), in cooperation with
the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them
applicable to all hazards.
In
2003, President Bush asked all Americans to volunteer in
the service of their country. The Citizen Corps program
was created to spearheaded this effort to harness the
power of every individual through education, training, and
volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and
better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism,
crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.
CERT was selected as one of the primary programs offered
to the American public to meet this challenge.
At the present time there are over 2500 active CERT
programs in 50 States and 3 territories. CERT programs are
also being adopted by a number of foreign countries. The
map on the right shows the location of CERT programs
throughout the country. Click on the map for a fully up to
date pdf version. A description of the various State
programs can be found by clicking here.
CERT in Lomita
The CERT program started in Lomita in 2006. As of the
spring of 2009 some 190 members of the community have been
trained and are ready to assist their neighborhood in the
event of an emergency.
Training courses are held approximately every quarter and
regular meetings of CERT graduates are held at City Hall.
See the Training and News
& Events pages for the latest information.
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