About CERT

Mission Statement 

The mission of the Newport Beach Fire Department CERT Program is to train residents to help themselves, neighbors and city in the event of an unexpected disaster.  Through the direction of the Newport Beach Fire Department, the mission of the Newport Beach CERT Program is also to assist in promoting disaster preparedness throughout the Newport Beach community to residents, businesses and schools.  When officially activated by the fire department, Newport Beach CERT volunteers can assist within the scope of their training and maybe deployed to designated locations within the city to assist city personnel.

Newport Beach CERT

The CERT Program is designed to prepare you to help yourself, your family, and your neighbors in the event of a catastrophic disaster. Because emergency services personnel will not be able to help everyone immediately, you can make a difference by using CERT training to save lives and protect property.

Following a major disaster, first responders who provide fire and medical services will not be able to meet the demand for these services. Factors such as number of victims, communication failures, and road blockages will prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment's notice through 911. People will have to rely on each other for help in order to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs.

CERT is about readiness, people helping people, rescuer safety, and doing the greatest good for the greatest number. CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens will be initially on their own and their actions can make a difference. Through training, citizens can manage utilities and put out small fires; treat the three killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock; provide basic medical aid; search for and rescue victims safely; and organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective.

History of Newport Beach CERT

The City of Newport Beach began offering CERT training to residents in 1999.  The first Newport Beach CERT class was held in fall 1999 and 22 Newport Beach residents completed the program.  Since then, over 1,500 people have been trained through the Newport Beach CERT program. 

Today, Newport Beach CERT educates participants using the United States Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency National Program Accredited Course of Instruction, which requires a minimum of 20 hours of training.  The Newport Beach CERT program must also re-certify annually to ensure that all Department of Homeland Security training standards are being met.  The training offers practical application skills used to prepare, respond, survive and recover during the hours and days immediately following an unexpected disaster.  Upon completion of the 20 hour basic CERT training course, participants are certified disaster service workers, ready to assist the Newport Beach community in times of need.

Newport Beach is a coordinating and founding member of the Orange County CERT Mutual Aid Program (CMAP) which was organized in 2005 to provide mutual aid volunteer support in the event of a disaster.  The group meets monthly and has members from all Orange County cities with CERT programs.  CMAP has designed training that allows interoperability throughout Orange County CERT programs.  The first activation of CMAP occurred during the Santiago Fire in 2007, where CERT volunteers played a vital role in resource management and were recognized for their efforts by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  CMAP volunteers were also activated in 2008 for the Freeway Complex fire and have been used for other smaller city and county specific activations.

Since its inception in 1999, the Newport Beach CERT program has grown significantly.  The program was awarded the prestigious 2012 FEMA Individual and Community Preparedness Award for Outstanding CERT Program Initiatives and received an Honorable Mention for Volunteer Integration for its CERT Communicators program.  The Newport Beach CERT program received both 2012 awards because of the efforts of city personnel and CERT volunteers to assist in fulfilling FEMA’s mission “to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.” 

The Newport Beach Fire Department is dedicated to the continued growth and development of its CERT program.  Through training classes, drills and events, the Newport Beach Fire Department will continue to dedicate resources to promote disaster preparedness and train residents, businesses and schools to be more prepared and will actively work to grow and engage our CERT volunteers.

History of CERT Nationally 

The concept of a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) was originally envisioned and enacted by the County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) after the Mexico City earthquake in 1985.  The program developed by LAFD was a result of the experiences of volunteerism in Mexico City after a M8.1 earthquake devastated the city, killing more than 10,000 people and injuring more than 30,000 people.  Large groups of volunteers organized to assist in search and rescue efforts.  The volunteers are credited with saving over 800 lives over the 15 day rescue, but unfortunately 100 of the untrained volunteers lost their own lives during rescue operations.

The LAFD developed the CERT program to provide training to volunteers, which included basic fire suppression, light search and rescue, and first aid.  In 1986, the first 30 person team completed training and proved the concept was viable through exercise, demonstrations and drills.  The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake supported the need for community disaster preparedness training and advanced the program, provoking involvement by the City of Los Angeles.

In 1993, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) decided that the CERT concept and program materials should be implemented and available nationally, and in coordination with the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), the National Fire Academy and LAFD, CERT materials were developed for all hazards.

Today, CERT programs have spread across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three United States territories and are also being implemented internationally in countries like Canada.