Become a CERT Volunteer

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Lorain County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Volunteer. Please fill out the Lorain County CERT Volunteer Application (PDF) and call 440-329-5117. Training for new CERT members are held twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring.

Training and education resources available from FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI).

About the Courses

The EMI offers more than 50 independent study courses. These are self-paced courses designed for people who have emergency management responsibilities and for the general public. For most of the courses, you will need to download and print the materials. Others are interactive courses that you can take directly over the internet.

All are offered free of charge to those who qualify for enrollment. Each Independent Study Course includes lessons with practice exercises and a final examination. Students who score 75% or better are issued a certificate of achievement from EMI.

Time Commitment

Course completion times vary from 2 to 14 hours, depending on the course and the student's background. College credit can be obtained after successful completion of a course. For more information, please visit the website for FEMA's (EMI).

Who Should Participate

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center strongly recommends that volunteers with a direct role in emergency and incident management and response take NIMS and Incident Command System (ICS) training. The amount of training depends on the person's position level in response operations, as follows:

Entry Level

  • FEMA IS-700.b: NIMS, An Introduction
  • IS-100: Introduction to ICS or equivalent

First Line, Single Resource, Field Supervisors

  • IS-700.b, IS-100 and IS-200: Basic ICS or its equivalent

Middle Management: Strike Team Leaders, Division Supervisors, EOC Staff, etc.

  • IS-700.b, IS-800 NRP, IS-100, IS-200, IS-300

Command & General Staff; Area, Emergency & EOC Managers

  • IS-700.b, IS-800, IS-100, IS-200, IS-300 and IS-400

Resource Links for Training