Community Emergency Response Team

In a disaster or major incident, CERT teams are capable of triage, casualty collection site management and light search and rescue operations. CERT training includes fire safety, ICS principles and disaster psychology, giving trained volunteers greater-than-average resilience in high-stress situations.

The Burbank Fire Corps Program (BFCP) maintains a robust CERT capacity. Our CERT-trained volunteers are largely local and able to respond quickly in the wake of a disaster. In times of distress, Incident Commanders can be confident that all CERT missions can be accomplished by Burbank CERT with safety and professionalism.

Unlike many municipalities, the BFCP CERT component is not a distinct program within the volunteer corps. Instead, volunteers are recruited as general Disaster Service Workers through the City of Burbank Emergency Services, then branch their training to fit their available time and physical capacity. By not slotting our volunteers, we give Branch Directors, Section Chiefs and Incident Commanders a more flexible tool to meet their objectives.

When objectives arise that fall within the CERT scope, CERT-trained volunteers follow an organizational protocol that creates CERT-capable teams. Those teams are then made available to the Incident Command structure to be deployed where they can do the most good. All of our CERT-certified volunteers have likewise been trained to be ICS, NIMS and SEMS compliant for seamless integration into a professional ICS structure.

Training

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training teaches disaster preparedness, ICS principles and disaster response skills. CERT-trained individuals have a higher awareness, greater resiliency in the wake of a disaster and the ability to supplement and complement professional responders. This training requires 17.5 hours (minimum) and grants a FEMA-recognized certification.

The CERT Curriculum

  • DISASTER PREPAREDNESS: This gives an overview of disasters with a special look at how they'll affect Burbank and the surrounding area. The Burbank CERT training program gives special attention on how to prepare before a disaster strikes, including preparedness and hazard mitigation.
  • FIRE SAFETY: Instructions begins with the basics of fire chemistry and students learn about the hazards they already have in their home and workplace. This includes instruction on operating fire extinguishers and students hone their technique in a live-fire exercise.
  • DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS I: Students learn to identify life-threatening conditions in a technique known as "triage." Additionally, they will be trained to immediately treat victims for the three deadliest killers in mass-casualty incidents.
  • DISASTER MEDICAL OPERATIONS II: This extends the medical view into public health considerations, as well as giving hands-on training in establishing treatment areas, conducting head-to-toe Assessments and wound care for types of injuries typically seen in disasters.
  • LIGHT SEARCH AND RESCUE: We teach the fundamentals of light urban search and rescue, including size-up, entry, search patterns, rescuer safety and victim extrication.
  • CERT ORGANIZATION: When disaster strikes, sometimes getting started is the most difficult step. CERT organization will teach the decision-making skills to organize, as well as a NIMS-compliant vocabulary to fit into larger Emergency Response organizations. The Burbank method presents CERT Org as a form of ICS-lite.
  • DISASTER PSYCHOLOGY: The mind is the most important tool – as well as the most delicate. This unit teaches individual and team well-being, from what to expect going into a disaster to working with survivors' trauma and post-traumatic stress.
  • TERRORISM AWARENESS: Terrorism is a criminal act and its prevalence is only growing. CERT class introduces the concepts, motivations and tools common among terrorists to create a heightened state of awareness, reducing the possibility that CERT graduates will be the next terrorism statistic.

The Burbank Fire Corps CERT training and training updates are conducted locally at the Burbank Fire Training Center. This is the same facility used by the Verdugo Fire Academy to train firefighter recruits for Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. All the facilities are made available to our volunteers to meet their training needs, including the four-story tower, fire pit and fully-equipped classroom.



Frequently Asked CERT Questions
  • Q: CERT training seems like a life-saver, through I'm not ready to be a volunteer. Can the general public take this class?
  • A: Yes. For dates and information on Burbank Fire Corps CERT classes, as well as answers to a variety of other CERT training questions, please review our CERT Training section.
  • Q: I've taken CERT before, but it's been a while. Can I audit the class?
  • A: Yes. For those already CERT-trained, you may attend Burbank CERT classes for free. You must bring your own PPE. You do not need to be a member of Fire Corps to attend.
  • Q: Do you ever have CERT training that's not actually a part those twice-a-year classes?
  • A: Yes. For CERT-trained Burbank Fire Corps members looking to solidify their CERT skills, we recommend CERT Intensive Training (CIT).
  • Q: I'd like to join Burbank Fire Corps as a CERT-trained volunteer. Do you accept CERT training certificates from other organizations?
  • A: Yes! Most fire and police departments teach at least the minimum 17.5-hour FEMA curriculum. If your training meets that criteria, we'll accept it.
  • Q: I took CERT a couple of years ago, and I'd like to join as a CERT-classified DSW, but I can't find my certificate. Can I just verbally inform you that I've passed a CERT class?
  • A: No. It would be convenient if you could, but liability being what it is, we need to keep a copy of your CERT certification in your file. However, that doesn't mean you're doomed to repeat the class (though if it's been over two years, we highly recommend it). Your alternative is to fill out an affidavit affirming that you have completed a CERT class, as well as a completion certificate from IS-317 (Intro to CERT).
  • Q: CERT training is a little much for my knees right now. Is CERT required to be Fire Corps volunteer?
  • A: No. It is highly recommended, but not a requirement for membership. It is, however, a requirement for certain field deployments, certain training requirements, and may be a prerequisite for select future Operations programs.
  • Q: When did they stop calling it "Civil Defense"? Why did they change it to CERT?
  • A: The concept of civil defense itself has been evolving since it was first created. With different threats, and in different cultural climates, the funding behind citizen preparedness has varied – therefore, so has the focus. The real transition, though, finally took place back in 1994, just after the first World Trade Center bombing. Political concern had built to the point that there was no confidence in the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950. It simply didn't the have the power to accomplish what needed to be done. That was the impetus to move all remnants of civil defense authority to the Stafford Act, thus creating an all-hazards approach to preparedness. Now under FEMA purview, the Administration needed a fresh approach to community readiness – and they found just the right source material brewing in Los Angeles.
  • Q: They were brewing CERT in Los Angeles?
  • A: Yup, and compared with the DoD's "In Time of Emergency" (1968) handbook, CERT was a fully caffeinated, cutting-edge approach. The City of Los Angeles Fire Department recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own during the early stages of a catastrophic disaster. Accordingly, in 1985, LAFD developed and implemented a basic training curriculum of disaster survival and rescue skills that would improve the ability of citizens to survive until responders or other assistance could arrive. The Whittier Narrows earthquake (1987) underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California and further confirmed the need for training civilians to meet immediate post-disaster needs.
  • Q: So how did it go from LAFD to FEMA?
  • A: Emergency Management is a fairly small community, so word of the LAFD's training program success was immediately noticed by a Federal agency looking for just that kind of solution. In 1994, the Emergency Management Institute (EMI) (FEMA's educational branch), in cooperation with the LAFD, expanded the CERT materials to make them applicable to all hazards.
  • Q: Odd. I don't remember hearing much about CERT in 1994.
  • A: It was modest growth until the attacks of 2001. There, the spirit of volunteerism in disasters truly bloomed. By 2003, the Administration initiated the Citizen Corps program, which was mandated, among other things, to increase citizen preparedness for disasters of all kinds. CERT was selected as one of the major vehicles to accomplish this goal.