CERT Chapters of Lincoln County, Oregon

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations giving members the skills to assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help.

In Lincoln County, the leaders of each CERT chapter are members of the Lincoln County Citizen Corps Coordinating Council, which was authorized by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners to coordinate CERT response throughout the county. CERT Chapters are individually sponsored as noted below. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office assists the Chapters by utilizing the Volgistics program for online volunteer applications, background checks, and maintaining training records and volunteer assignments.

The primary reason for CERT training is to give people the decision-making, organizational, and practical skills to offer immediate assistance to family members, neighbors, and associates while waiting for help. The goal of the CERT program is to train volunteers to be effective and efficient in disaster mitigation, response, and recovery without placing themselves in unnecessary danger.

  • Apply basic fire suppression strategies
  • Apply basic first aid techniques to open airways, control bleeding, and treat shock
  • Conduct light search and rescue operations
  • Describe the types of hazards most likely to affect their communities
  • Identify risks and reduce fire hazards
  • In the hands-on course, CERT members are trained to:
  • Learn the Incident Command System
  • Perform head-to-toe assessments
  • Prepare for a disaster
  • Set up treatment areas
  • Size-up search and rescue situations
  • Use safe techniques for debris removal and victim extrication
  • Work in a team setting