Build Your Team
Find Valuable Resources
Understand CERT Forms
Build a Team
If you are interested in starting a neighborhood CERT team, first check the Find a Team to see if one exists in your area. The City of Berkeley has some great resources for organizing a team, but they have a less formal structure and don't have CERT teams by neighborhoods. Check out their Ambassador Toolkit and click on Talking Points: Empowering Potential Leaders and Talking Points: Motivating a New Neighborhood Group. We also recommend reaching out to Richmond's Office of Emergency Services Manager. OES has a list of CERT graduates and while they can't share other people's emails with you, you may ask them to reach out to CERT graduates and share your contact information with them. This may help you to find some others who want to build a team. Also, post on Nextdoor and social media. Not all members of your team need to be CERT graduates. Non-CERTs can provide other help with outreach and organizing.
CERT Forms
1. Unit Activity Log
Each team needs to keep a Unit Activity Log of main actions for the day.
NOT translated yet.
2. Volunteer Sign In Form
Used to sign in CERT members as they arrive at the staging location; provides information about:
Who is on site
When they arrived
When they were assigned
Their special skills
Used by staging personnel to track personnel availability
Volunteer Sign In form (ICS 211)
Voluntario iniciar / cerrar sesión (ICS 211) (Spanish)
3. Waiver of Liability
Get all volunteers to sign this on their first drill or during a disaster. Have a binder with A-Z tabs to make it easy to identify. Have wristbands or pieces of yard in lieu of wristbands to indicate that a person has signed the waiver.
4. Incident/Assignment Tracking Log
Used by the Command Post for keeping abreast of situation status; contains essential information for tracking the overall situation.
Assignment Tracking Form (ICS 204) - Below is NOT our translated version.
Diarios-de-Seguimiento-de-Tareas-2011.pdf (Spanish)
5. Briefing Assignment
Used by the Command Post to provide instructions to functional teams; used by teams to log their actions and report new damage assessment information
Instrucciones-Sobre-las-Tareas-2011.pdf (Spanish)
6. Equipment Inventory
Used to check out and check in CERT-managed equipment
Equipment / Radio Check Out form (ICS 303) - Below is NOT our translated version.
Inventario-del-Equipo-2011.pdf (Spanish)
7. General Message
Used for sending messages between command levels and groups; messages should be clear and concise and should focus on such key issues as:
Assignment completion
Additional resources required
Special information
Status update
General Message form (ICS 213)
General Message form with check boxes (ICS 213)
General Message form for Runners (ICS 213-R)
Mensaje-General-2011.pdf (Spanish) NOT our version
8. Communications Log
Completed by the radio operator; used to log incoming and outgoing transmissions
Registro-de-Comunicaciones-2011.pdf (Spanish) NOT our version
9. Damage Assessment
Completed by CERT members as they travel through the area to the CERT staging location, then given to the CERT IC/TL; provides a summary of overall hazards in selected areas, including:
Fires
Utility hazards
Structural damage
Injuries and casualties
Available access
Essential for prioritizing and formulating action plans.
Damage Assessment form (need to translate - one below is traditional form)
Formulario-de-Evaluación-de-Los-Daños-2011.pdf (Spanish) NOT our version
10. Patient Encounter Form
Each patient needs a form. A clipboard per patient is very helpful. Additionally, having these made in duplicate is very useful.
Patient Encounter form - NOT translated yet
11. Victim Treatment Area Record
Completed by medical treatment area personnel to record victims entering the treatment area, their condition, and their status
Victim Treatment Area Tracking form
Registro-del-Área-de-Tratamiento-de-Víctimas-2011.pdf (Spanish) NOT our version