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	WHAT DO WE DO WITH THEM NOW? *Frank Lucier, Editor The Connection* Turkey...Earthquake...August 17^th ...2:03AM....7.4 Richter scale ...thousands trapped Once again we are reminded that following a major disaster we will be relying on the skills of our "real first responders," the community. We will be relying on them for those first few critical hours and maybe even for days until professional rescue teams and the military can mobilize and arrive in sufficient numbers to take over the load. The goal is to make this community response a effective as possible thus minimizing loss of life.
When Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training started in this Country back in the late 80s there were really no models to follow except for possibly the Civil Defense program of World War II. CERT training was a new concept, both for the firefighters and emergency managers who conducted the trainings, and for the community people who were the students. Now that the training programs have been going on for over ten years some trends are starting to appear. Trained people in the community are starting to create organizations such as the Central Florida CERT Association and the Association of Volunteer Emergency Response Teams (AVERT) in Utah. We feel this is a positive step in the evolution of CERT and hope to see more in the near future. THE PROGRAM When a CERT program is first started, the coordinator seems to run the gambit of emotions. First is enthusiasm after attending a train-the-trainer program, then apprehension about the ability to implement the program, then excitement having completed the first training and a desire to do more. If the seeds have been planted successfully, soon the demand for the training begins to grow...and grow...and grow. In the seven short years that I was responsible for the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) program in San Francisco, we trained over 8,000 people. The first year we trained 24. The second year it was 110. As the number of people trained continued to rapidly grow so did the responsibilities and work load. When I retired from the Department in October of 1997, the NERT Office was receiving an average of 40-50 phone calls a day. This was not counting the additional phone line we had installed so interested people could sign up for classes via a recorded message. You would think that just answering these calls was quite a workload for one full time and one part time person. But this was only a small portion of the overall program coordination and management. I’m sure this situation is very familiar to many of you across the Country, as the program grows the workload becomes overwhelming. There were skill refresher classes to plan and implement, training classes to schedule, recruitment efforts, speaking engagements, instructor evaluations, instructor recruitment, tool and equipment maintenance, budgeting, database management, train-the-trainer classes...well you get the idea.
	Was there any time left to manage and support the thousands of people who were already trained, the NERT organization? I think you know the answer to that question. Most of the time and effort went into recruitment and training. We were missing something. The goal was to have trained teams in all areas of the City. We wanted these teams to be capable of responding and assisting their neighbors in an effective and systematic manner following a disaster. To achieve this goal we had to organize and retain the people once they had been trained. We had a volunteer committee in place but we didn’t have the resources to effectively manage this group.
We have been telling people that they must be self-sufficient for at least the first 72 hours following a major disaster. If we have learned anything from Loma Prieta, Oklahoma City, Northridge, and other disasters, it is that the community must be able to self-activate and work, with no official direction for at least a few hours and possibly even days. To be able to accomplish this the CERT teams need methods to communicate, a management and decision making process, and standard operating procedures to work in a disaster environment. They also need an organizational structure which will allow them to operate and grow on a day-to-day basis as well as transition easily and effectively to a disaster management and response structure. If the development and maintenance of this type of organization falls back on the shoulders of the Program Coordinator it will never get the attention it needs to be effective. The CERTs need to take responsibility for their preparedness and become owners of their organization and partners with Emergency Managers and Fire Departments in planning community preparedness and response. Establishing a CERT non-profit corporation is giving back the control and responsibility for community preparedness to the ones who will be the front line response in a disaster. THE NEXT STEP Most communities identify teams by using existing neighborhoods borders or by establishing geographical boundaries so teams have a primary area of responsibility and response. Community maps with team boundaries and resources (hospitals, fire stations, shelters, mass care facilities, open areas, equipment caches, etc.) clearly marked can be extremely useful to the teams as well as emergency managers. Next the neighborhood teams need a management process. A process that is used by all teams, is easy to use, and one that can function day-to-day or can effectively transition to a disaster management tool. The Incident Command System (ICS) was developed for just such uses. unity have been established, a communications network and SOPs have been developed, and a management process to facilitate decision making and response is in place (more about these in the Spring edition), the next step is to create a structure that will support this effort for years to come as the numbers of people trained grow into the thousands...the non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation. There are benefits to incorporating as a 501(c)(3) that are not available to other types of organization. One of the main benefits is the ability to accept tax deductible donations. These donations can be used to purchase tools and equipment needed for team response, communications and management. They can be used to cover the costs of postage, newsletters and supplies needed to support the organization. Assuming financial responsibility is a way of assuring that the CERT organization will continue to grow.
Incorporation establishes an identity and credibility for the CERT organization, the non-profit corporation is now an entity recognized by the Federal and State governments. It creates a sense of pride and ownership, as the CERTs will be responsible for direction and management of the organization. If we are to have truly effective community preparedness and response, it can’t happen because FEMA, the State or local jurisdiction supports the concept. It can only happen if the people in the community take ownership and responsibility for it. Building codes won’t change, disaster plans won’t be re-written, and preparedness will always be an issue on the back shelf until the community gets involved and takes responsibility for their own preparedness and future. A CERT non-profit corporation can have an impact on preparedness issues at a Community, State and Federal level. At a Los Angeles Fire Department train-the-trainer program in 1990, Frank Borden told me that what we are trying to do is not get people prepared but we are trying to change the culture. We are trying to change the communities reliance on 911 and professional emergency responders following a major disaster to one of self-sufficiency. If this is what we are trying to accomplish, then it is time to take the next step and return the responsibility for disaster preparedness back to the "real first responders", the community. For more information on incorporation and CERT regional organizations please see the following articles: AVERT Meets Challenge Non-Profit Trends BayNET, Support for Community Preparedness Efforts Continuing Education

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