LA’s CERT program is turning everyday civilians into emergency responders

By Jenna Jarrah

In 1984, Los Angeles city firefighters realized that they needed to come up with a plan to train civilians to respond to natural disasters, like earthquakes. So a group of firefighters from the Los Angeles Fire Department went to Japan to learn how to train U.S. civilians.

Then in 1985, Mexico City had a devastating 8.1 magnitude earthquake, and hundreds of civilians flocked outside to help their neighbors and pulled them out of the  rubble. “What happened in Mexico City cemented the firefighters’ thought process,” said Christy Adair, the Valley bureau coordinator of Los Angeles’ Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

The CERT program was created in 1987 by LAFD. And later in 1994, FEMA adopted LAFD’s model and implemented a nationwide CERT program.

The program is a modular 7-week course where participants learn about “all things emergency preparedness” in natural disasters. CERT members learn skills in disaster fire suppression, medical operations, patient assessment, and light search and rescue.

James Scuillo, who completed his training two years ago said, “I’m really happy that I’ve done the training. And I believe that with the CERT certification, I could contribute to emergency response somewhere.”

Recently, the LAFD hosted a preparedness drill at Encino Park where CERT members participated in an earthquake simulation. Participants were grouped into medical and search teams.

Candra Rodriguez, a nurse-turned-firefighter and CERT instructor, said, “Personally, I think this is the single most important educational training that anyone could take.  Public resources are going to be very overwhelmed in a scenario where something catastrophic happens. When people get the skills and the confidence to take care of their communities, there’s going to be a lot more survivability.”

Geraldine Hernandez-Abisror completed her training in 2013 and is now a CERT coordinator. She said, “I feel super grateful for the bureau coordinators and the firecaptains who work to support this and our local council members who help fund this because it is so important for communities to gather together and know the essentials in emergency situations.”

In December of 2024, CERT members were on call completing fire patrols following the Red Flag Warning given by the National Weather Service before the Palisades fire ignited.

And in early 2025, CERT members worked for 40 days between January and February to assist LAFD by handling various tasks like firefighter hydration, repopulation, moving vehicles, and organizing donations.

“There’s a high demand for what we do because we are literally training thousands of people every year to go back into their communities with more awareness so that they can take care of themselves and their neighbors and be safer,” said Adair.

For more information on CERT, and to sign up for classes throughout LA, visit: https://www.cert-la.com/.