The CERT Mission & Incident Command

When a major disaster strikes — earthquake, hurricane, or mass casualty event — professional first responders are overwhelmed. FEMA estimates that in a catastrophic earthquake, professional response could take 72 hours or longer to reach all affected areas. Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) fill this gap: trained civilian volunteers who can suppress small fires, perform light search and rescue, provide basic medical care, and organize survivors until professionals arrive. Over 2,700 CERT programs operate across the United States, with hundreds of thousands of trained volunteers. CERT members do not replace professionals — they extend response capacity and reduce preventable deaths in the critical first hours.