The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is a nationally supported, locally implemented initiative that teaches people how to better prepare themselves for hazards that may affect their communities.

CERT trains the public in basic disaster response skills such as team organization, disaster medical operations, fire safety, and light search and rescue. The ability for CERT volunteers to perform these activities frees up professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex, essential, and critical tasks.

Before, during, and after disasters, CERT volunteer teams perform basic response activities, including checking in on neighbors, distributing information to the public, supporting emergency operations centers, and helping to manage traffic and crowds.

Local CERT programs train and organize teams of volunteers to assist their families, neighbors, co-workers, and other community members during emergencies when professional responders may not be immediately available to provide assistance.

Sheriff Rambosk and the command staff at CCSO recognize the importance of community preparedness.  In a disaster, emergency services may be overwhelmed, and communication networks may be unavailable.  Trained CERT members can provide a critical first response in their own neighborhoods, performing initial damage surveys and providing essential life-saving aid while directing emergency responders to areas with the most urgent needs.

CCSO CERT teams will be trained and ready to assist their own neighborhoods in an emergency.  During “normal”, non-disaster times, they will have opportunities to assist the Collier County community in awareness events, public gatherings, and missing person searches.  Some may have opportunities to deploy to disaster areas outside of Collier County when disaster strikes our neighbors elsewhere in Florida.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is a nationally supported, locally implemented initiative that teaches people how to better prepare themselves for hazards that may affect their communities.

CERT trains the public in basic disaster response skills such as team organization, disaster medical operations, fire safety, and light search and rescue. The ability for CERT volunteers to perform these activities frees up professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex, essential, and critical tasks.

Before, during, and after disasters, CERT volunteer teams perform basic response activities, including checking in on neighbors, distributing information to the public, supporting emergency operations centers, and helping to manage traffic and crowds.

Local CERT programs train and organize teams of volunteers to assist their families, neighbors, co-workers, and other community members during emergencies when professional responders may not be immediately available to provide assistance.

There are nine core units to CERT training:

• Disaster Preparedness
• CERT Organization
• Disaster Medical Operations - Part 1
• Disaster Medical Operations - Part 2
• Disaster Psychology
• Fire Safety and Utility Controls
• Light Search and Rescue Operations
• Terrorism and CERT
• Course Review, Final Exam and Disaster Simulation

Courses will be taught locally by members of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Collier County Fire & Rescue.

There is a total of 24-hours of class time which will be presented over several weeks to accommodate schedules.  Classes will typically be 3 or 4 hours each and will consist of both presentation and hands-on practical training.

Members of the CCSO CERT team will be volunteers and subject to background checks before being admitted to the program.  After completing the initial 24-hour course, final exam and disaster simulation, CERT members will be organized into teams by neighborhood.

CCSO CERT members will be expected to attend regular meetings to receive training updates and new program information.

There is always some risk inherent in helping others, but one of the CERT program’s top priorities is your safety.  You cannot effectively help someone else if you are injured, so your safety comes first.  During the core training, we will emphasize your role and areas of responsibility, including actions you may (and may not) take when responding as part of CERT.

No, the primary goal of the CCSO CERT will be to respond within the teams’ assigned neighborhood, and when available, elsewhere within Collier County.  There may be times when the Sheriff asks for CERT volunteers who are willing and able to deploy to other counties within Florida, to assist with disaster relief, but there will be no requirement to do so.  The details of such a request would depend on the circumstances of the disaster, but would always be an opportunity to serve, not a requirement.

For those who are interested expanding their service to the community, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office is proud to offer diverse volunteer opportunities for community member involvement.

CCSO volunteers work in a variety of capacities throughout the agency including patrol support, crime prevention education, issuing disabled parking citations, fingerprinting, administrative / clerical duties, assisting detectives, monitoring jail video visitations, translating, and chaplain services to inmates.

Unless otherwise noted, classes take place at the
Professional Development Center, 615 3rd Ave S, Naples, FL 34102

 
Special session: Ave Maria Fire Station

TEEX, AWR-399-W, Detecting and Responding to a Cyber Attack https://teex.org/class/AWR399/

TEEX, AWR-395, Cybersecurity in the Workplace https://teex.org/class/AWR395/

TEEX, AWR-396-W, Network Security for Homes and Small Businesses https://teex.org/class/AWR396/

TEEX, AWR-397, Cybersecurity for Everyone https://teex.org/class/AWR397/

EMI, IS906, Workplace Security Awareness, https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=is-906&lang=en

EMI, IS317a, Intro to Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-317.a&lang=en