The CERT concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs.

CERT became a national program in 1993. There are now CERT programs in all 50 states, including many tribal nations and U.S. territories. Each is unique to its community and all are essential to building a Culture of Preparedness in the United States. There are over 2,700 local CERT programs nationwide and more than 600,000 people have trained since CERT became a national program.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is a nationally
supported, locally implemented initiative that teaches people how to better prepare
themselves for hazards that may affect their communities. CERT trains them in basic
disaster response skills such as team organization, disaster medical operations, fire
safety, and light search and rescue. Local CERT programs train and organize teams of
volunteers to assist their families, neighbors, co-workers, and other community
members during emergencies when professional responders may not be immediately
available to provide assistance. Before, during, and after disasters, CERT volunteer
teams perform basic response activities, including checking in on neighbors, distributing
information to the public, supporting emergency operations centers, and helping to
manage traffic and crowds. The ability for CERT volunteers to perform these activities
frees up professional responders to focus their efforts on more complex, essential, and
critical tasks. CERT volunteers also support their communities by organizing, promoting,
and participating in emergency preparedness events, activities, and projects.
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) developed the CERT program after
examining the civilian response to disasters in Mexico and Japan in 1985. The LAFD
recognized that citizens are likely to be on their own during the early stages of disaster.
Under these circumstances, family members, co-workers, and neighbors will often
spontaneously come to the aid of each other. While untrained volunteers can be very
effective in aiding others, their lack of training puts them at risk for injury or death. For
example, during the response to the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that claimed more
than 10,000 lives, untrained volunteers saved 700 lives, but unfortunately, 100
volunteers died in the process.
In response, the LAFD decided to develop and offer disaster response training to Los
Angeles residents so that during and after future disasters volunteers would be able to
assist in a safe, responsible, and effective manner. The LAFD piloted the first CERT
training in 1986. In turn, other fire departments around the country, including
communities where the major threat is hurricanes rather than earthquakes, adopted the
LAFD’s training model. Building on this development, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) expanded the CERT materials in 1994 to make them
applicable to all hazards and made the program available to communities nationwide.
Since that time, thousands of dedicated trainers, organizations, and citizens have
embraced the responsibility to learn new skills and become prepared to execute safe
and effective emergency response capabilities