The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program was created after
a tornado hit the city in 1991. CERT's purpose is to train volunteers
to respond to their neighborhood, school, or business after a disaster
and to be able to take care of themselves until public safety can respond.
The CERT Program is an all-volunteer organization sponsored by the Huntington
Beach Fire Department and coordinated through the Emergency Services
Office. CERT is dedicated to disaster mitigation, preparedness, response,
and recovery. Eight monthly classes are offered yearly to train and
prepare residents to respond quickly and efficiently to any disaster
in their home, school, or business. Special presentations on disaster
preparedness are available to any adult or scout group in the City by
calling the Emergency Services Office at 714-536-5980.
The ideal goal of the CERT Program is to train a CERT Team in every
neighborhood, school, and business located within the City. Each team
would become self- sufficient and be able to respond to emergencies
until public safety personnel respond. Teams would help evacuate everyone
to safety, search for and rescue trapped victims, provide initial first
aid, shut off leaking and damaged utilities, care for and shelter displaced
families, and help each other recover from the emergency.
CERT has formed 46 neighborhood CERT Teams that can respond to a major
emergency. Once the neighborhood team is formed, we recommend that participants
attend the CERT classes. In addition, CERT has outreach teams that can
go into the neighborhoods and train them in: Search & Rescue, Triage,
First Aid, Neighborhood Registration, and Communications. There are
133 districts in the City (each one-half mile square) and CERT's immediate
goal is to have at least one team in every district.
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