What Is Lorain County CERT?

The Lorain County Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program is part of the local and national Citizen Corps effort to incorporate and utilize volunteers in the community. Citizen Corps is endorsed by the President of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security, the Lorain County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and local fire and police chiefs.

CERT members are trained in basic response techniques in order to assist local citizens and first responders in disaster or emergency situations.

The mission of the CERT program is to rapidly respond as a team to assist communities in a large-scale emergency or disaster.

Mission Statement

To provide a quality, trained resource for safety education, emergency response assistance and other volunteer efforts.

Goals of the CERT Program

• To do the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
• To maintain team readiness through ongoing training and meetings.
• To gain and maintain acknowledgment and respect from area first responders and residents.
• To maintain professionalism in all areas within the scope of the program.
• To focus great effort in maintaining the safety, in order of importance, of ourselves as team members, and all other victims or rescuers.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the CERT program are to establish and maintain teams of qualified and trained individuals who can execute the following when requested to do so:

• Assist local emergency services and emergency management officials with trained individuals as requested.
• Assist in victim triage and rescue.
• Assist with sheltering, mass feeding and other support function staffing if requested.
• Integrate operations with other CERT teams as requested by the Office of Emergency
• Management and Homeland Security.

Concept of Operations

The CERT teams are designed to provide assistance during a long-term incident. The teams are also capable of providing direct support to communities and/or private agencies within the scope of their training.

The CERT teams are overseen locally by the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security using a Team Leader concept. Teams are located throughout the county and are based on the locations of members' homes.

Lorain County CERT Meetings

(Please Note: Due to the COVID Pandemic, CERT meetings are on hold until further notice)

The Lorain County CERT Team meets on a regular basis. Please refer to the yearly CERT Calendar of Events to see what we have planned for next year.

The County Team members are broken down into 3 zones. Each Zone holds their own meetings on the opposite month of the County Team meetings.