	Austin Travis County CERT Program Information Page
This page will have updated information on training, events and volunteer opportunities for TC CERT Members

City of Austin/Travis County CERT Policies

Who we are

A “CERT” is a group of people that receives special training that enhances their ability to respond to, and recover from a major emergency or disaster situation.
City of Austin/Travis County CERT is coordinated by the City of Austin Office of Emergency Management (OEM).
Training for City of Austin/Travis County CERT members is provided by emergency responders and emergency management personnel in areas that will help them take care of themselves and others before, during, and after a major emergency.
CERT members can provide vital services by assisting those in distress in the absence of emergency responders. CERT members can provide vital support to first responders in non-emergency situations as well.

Training

· Training for all CERT members will be provided by Disaster Ready Austin (DRA), City of Austin public safety personnel, and representatives from other professional organizations.

· Students attend five weekly Disaster Ready Austin (DRA) classes. Each class lasts three hours. In addition, each CERT member must attend two advanced training classes. Each advanced training class lasts five hours.

· Students must complete four out of the five DRA classes and both of the CERT advanced training classes in order to graduate, become a certified CERT member, and receive equipment.

· Advanced training will periodically be offered for CERT members to improve their skills as well as for any specialized teams that may require special training. Attending advanced training is not required for CERT members but may be required to become part of a specialized team.

Equipment

· If a member leaves the area or terminates their involvement in CERT it shall be their responsibility to turn in all issued equipment clean and in good working order. CERT members shall not be held financially accountable for equipment that is worn or damaged as a result of the normal wear and tear of CERT activities.

· CERT members will be provided with a CERT tee shirt, hat, safety vest, hardhat, CERT identification, and a backpack containing rescue and first aid equipment.

· The City of Austin will provide you with a list of optional equipment team members may chose to purchase on their own.

· Pagers may be provided to CERT members serving in leadership positions or on specialized teams.

· District kits will be located at locations TBA by the CERT Policy Committee. The equipment in these kits will contain extensive first aid supplies, advanced search and rescue and water rescue equipment and public service radios. The equipment in these kits will be locked and available for use only during an emergency or authorized training exercises. District Leaders as we define them will have access to the kits and will be asked to do quarterly inventories, which will be reported to the City of Austin OEM.

Districts

· CERT districts will mirror Austin Fire Department battalions. Two to three civilian CERT members will serve as District Leaders.

Activation of Teams

Community Emergency Response Team members may be activated in one of three ways:

Self Activation: CERT member or members respond to an emergency or disaster scene with the intent of rendering emergency response and recovery assistance without having received a direct request for assistance from a representative of an authorized City of Austin or Travis County public safety agency.

Generally, “self activation” occurs when CERT(s) respond to an emergency that occurs in close proximity to their physical location – such as their neighborhood, places of work, or at a location where they may be visiting.

CERT(s) are considered self-activated until emergency responders arrive on the scene and initiate the Incident Management System (IMS). Once IMS is initiated CERT members will take direction from the Incident Commander (IC) or their designate. The decision to deactivate the CERT will be made by the IC or designate.

During a self-activation, CERT members will follow the CERT IMS as defined and outlined in the CERT training – first CERT member on the team is the Leader until such time as other members arrive and a new leader is chosen/or the pre-determined leader arrives.

The Team Leader will designate a Communications Specialist who will contact the CERT Coordinator to report the activation. The need and frequency of status reports will be determined by the CERT Coordinator at that time. The communication method for transmitting these reports will be determined at the time by the nature, extent and severity of the emergency or disaster event.

Directed Activation: CERT member or members are directed to respond to an emergency or disaster scene by the City of Austin Office of Emergency Management authorized CERT Coordinator or FORT dispatcher.

A directed activation is initiated by a formal request made to the City of Austin Office of Emergency Management’s (OEM) Duty Officer or through the Austin-Travis County Emergency Operation Center (EOC), if it has been activated. The OEM Duty Officer or designated EOC representative will contact the authorized CERT Coordinator who will initiate the CERT team call out procedure.

During a directed activation, the CERT Coordinator or FORT dispatcher will contact the predetermined Team Leader by alpha pager indicating the type of incident, the service requested (if known), the location of the staging area, and who they should report to at the scene. As instructed at the time, either the CERT leader or FORT dispatcher will contact the team members by telephone tree or pager and coordinate their response to the staging area. At the emergency scene, the Team Leader will take direction from the IC or their designate under the IMS plan initiated at the scene.

As instructed at the time, the Team Leader will contact either the CERT Coordinator or FORT dispatcher when they arrive on the scene and will designate a Communications Specialist on the scene to communicate thereafter with the CERT Coordinator to give status reports on team activities. The communication method and intervals for transmitting these reports will be determined at the time by the nature, extent and severity of the emergency or disaster event.

3. Non-emergency Activation: Public safety organizations can request assistance from CERT members for non-emergency public safety activities approved by the organization. Requests for non-emergency activation are made to the OEM CERT Coordinator via telephone, fax, email, interoffice mail, or U.S. postal service.

Examples of non-emergency activation requests include distribution of hazard awareness and disaster preparedness educational material through door-to-door delivery, staffing of information booths at community events and delivering presentations to clubs, associations and at schools.

CERT members are notified of non-emergency activation requests by telephone, listserv email, individual email, fax or a posting on the Office of Emergency Management’s website.

Contact Numbers:

OEM 24 hour duty officer: 974-0600

OEM general number: 974-0450