Background:
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a program that helps citizens to be trained and prepared to meet their own needs in the event of an emergency. Following a disaster, First Responders who provide fire and medical services may be overwhelmed and not able to meet the demand for these services. Factors such as; the number of victims, communication failures, and road blockages may prevent people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moments notice through the 911 emergency system. Citizens may have to rely on each other for help in order to meet their immediate life saving and life sustaining needs.

The initial training of all CERT volunteers is conducted using the Federal Emergency Management Agency training outline using local instructors. After this initial training there is a need to keep volunteers motivated and interested in the CERT program. Our local fire departments have expressed interest in using the CERT volunteers during such incidents as; large structure fires, hazardous materials emergencies and any other large- scale emergency. CERT volunteers may assist in any of the following areas: assisting with rehabilitation of emergency responders, setting up emergency shelters, assisting with displaced victims, getting information to the public, helping direct traffic, and assisting with accountability of emergency personnel. The needs are endless and local responders may not have the resources within there departments at the time of a crisis. Additionally, our CERT volunteers can assist and participate in emergency exercises with the local emergency responders

The Upper Valley Community Emergency Response Team provides the ER3C with a testbed of civilian users to demonstrate and evaluate technologies to be used in preparing and responding to emergencies.