Ever think about what occurs behind the curtain of public safety or the people who safeguard us when danger is imposed? When a fire, natural disaster, or any emergency occurs, we pick up our phones, dial 911 and — poof! — the magic dragons appear and save us from imminent danger.
Truthfully, when large-scale disasters occur you see first responders and often everyday citizens responding. When hundreds or thousands of people are affected, our first responders would be overwhelmed if community members didn’t support. In the midst of a disaster, it’s everyone’s responsibility to respond. We need our first responders, but they also need us.
There’s a growing force behind first responders that most of us don’t see. They are uniformed in green, yellow and orange reflective gear; directing traffic, giving out bottled water and reassuring whoever they are helping that all will be okay. They are Certified Emergency Response Teams (CERT), volunteering their time to assist our fire, police and paramedics during emergency and non-emergency events.
Florida CERT Conference
Last month, I attended the Florida CERT Conference and was an amazing introduction into the CERT world. They volunteer to go through a very rigorous training process that enables them to respond to just about any emergency you can imagine. The training courses range from basic first aid to CPR to emergency triage skills. They are taught how to put out small fires or safely remove others from dangerous situations before and after first responders are called. Often, they are the first to arrive since they can literally be your next door neighbor or the bagger at your local grocery store. It’s really amazing what humans do to support each other in a time of need.
CERT volunteer certification
In order to become a CERT volunteer, you must enroll in preparation classes and then apply to be accepted into a CERT-sponsored team. You also have to agree to take refresher courses annually to maintain your certification. The basic required classes are below, but there are many new classes and other modalities that CERT teams can specialize in as their teams grow.
According to The Prepared, the official 20-hour course is broken into sections:
Preparedness: 2.5 hours. Includes specific disaster risks most relevant to your local community.
Fire safety and suppression: 2.5 hours. How to identify hazardous materials, put out a small fire, and fire gear.
Disaster Medical Operations: 5 hours. Triage and assessment, bleeding control, CPR-like airway control. Part first aid, part logistics of emergency medicine.
Search and Rescue: 2.5 hours. How to sweep areas, assess structural damage, and rescue techniques.
CERT Organization: 1.5 hours. The logistics of emergencies, Incident Management System, local team organization, and communications.
Psychology: 1 hour. How to help victims and first responders / yourself.
Terrorism: 2.5 hours. How to identify what kind of attack has occurred (chemical, nuclear, etc.).
Review and Simulation: 2.5 hours. Written exam followed by a practical simulation test.
Silent army of everyday heroes
According to FEMA, there are currently 2,700 CERT teams and over 600,000 volunteers who have been trained and stand ready to respond when needed. Imagine that — a silent army of everyday people ready to save lives. Amazing, I know.
While I’m mind-blown at their unselfish commitment, I can’t help but think: What else could we do? They have already created Teen CERT programs to support high school and junior high students. These programs preserve CERT’s legacy and provide students with the same information. This training helps students support their peers at sporting events, school dances, and in hallways.
The only thing that could make this sweeter is ensuring our CERTs have all necessary resources and tools. They are volunteers, so they have no budget and often very few resources. Most CERT volunteers organize fundraisers to support their teams. This is admirable since they are already volunteering and sometimes paying for certification classes.
Fulcrum Community supports CERT volunteer teams
At Spatial Networks, we understand and support CERT teams. That’s why we created Fulcrum Community, a short-term, no-cost data-collection platform. It enables anyone to collect and share information in real time. We know how difficult it is for these teams to gather critical information in the field, especially during a disaster. With Fulcrum Community, CERTs can now complete their required FEMA and emergency-management forms using cell phones. This method is easy, quick, and much more organized than using clipboards and later translating that information into required reports.
As more CERT teams join Fulcrum Community, we build an arsenal of required forms that teams can quickly download and edit to meet their needs. If you can’t find a specific form, our drag-and-drop app builder lets you easily add or create one. Fulcrum also offers features like downloading pictures, videos, and other necessary information while in the field.
Knowing that CERT teams need to communicate with sponsor teams (police, fire, EMTs), we are also FirstNet Listed. We provide our secured premium version of Fulcrum to those teams. This feature ensures all emergency team members can communicate in real time, keeping everyone safe and updated.
We may not wear the yellow, green, or orange reflective gear, but consider us part of the team.
About Fulcrum
Fulcrum is a data collection platform that enables organizations to reduce costs, access critical data in real time, and improve decision making at every level. With Fulcrum, you can create custom apps using our simple drag-and-drop builder to turn your paper documents into digital forms that your field teams can quickly complete on mobile devices.