 An unprecedented disaster. Houston, the nation's fourth largest city underwater in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Thousands already rescued. Coming up next... What we need now is volunteers. We need more volunteers. When the call for help comes... Without the volunteers, this would not have happened. There would be hundreds of people still waiting. It's people just like you that respond. Easy! Easy! Easy! We'll take you behind the scenes to see how everyday citizens are training to be ready when disasters strike. Power lines down, standing water, four people trapped in vehicles. Volunteers are the first ones to do the scene in many cases. It's all up next on this edition of Inside Look. Welcome to the Alameda County Fairgrounds behind me victims of an earthquake. Now, fortunately, today is just a drill, but it is a very important drill being put on by members of CERT. That's the Community Emergency Response Team. A little later in the show we'll talk more about what CERT is and what CERT does, but let's start by first asking, what does it take to become a member of CERT? For more on that, I'm joined by my colleague, Shawn Boyd, who's here at the Fairgrounds with me. Shawn? Yeah, thanks Brian. As you know, there is an awesome sense of volunteerism out here. Every one of these CERT team members are volunteers. And to give you a little bit more insight into what it is and what this training is all about today, I'm going to introduce you to a gentleman by the name of Roberta. You're being activated. They'd like you to report out to the Alameda County Fairgrounds. The stage is set. Who's medical? Everyone has a role. What was your character's name out here? My character. It originally started as Roberta. Consider this a dress rehearsal. Because when a real disaster gets, they all need to know their part. Five, six, seven, eight, and twenty. So let's set the scene. It's the Bay Area. These stables are now playing the part of a building. A building that is like a daycare center. And we're having an earthquake that happened and it collapsed the building. Again, Don is playing the role of Roberta. And I was a mother, and I was 57 years old, weighing 110 pounds. Power lines down, standing water, four people trapped in vehicle. Mayhem ensues. There's damage and destruction, injuries and death. A lot of us is trapped. Children are trapped in here. And the search teams are going to try to rescue us. And we're off. Now it's time for the performance to begin. The hurt was going up. Some CERT members are playing the patient. But with no pesky director to stifle creativity. It's all up to me, whatever I want to be. I say just go out there and do play this role. The rest are being challenged to assess each patient's unique situation and injuries and perform the rescue. Grab a four by four, slap it on there and get it out of here. Okay, one, two, three, here we go. The exercise today at Urban Shield in Alameda County is structured and evaluated. Otherwise, CERT volunteer training varies. Don says he puts in about five hours a month. My wife got me into it because my wife's parents were involved in it. So it's a generation that's being passed down. Give yourselves a hand. Well done. Good job. The curtain falls on this performance. Everyone gave it their all and learned a lot. What have you gotten out of it? Well, it's made me realize where my shortcomings and gear are. CERT members are everyday people. They're here because they want to be prepared and help others when the call comes. Hi guys, we are west of Houston in Fort Van County. It's just an unbelievable day. We just rescued this family of 10. Jenny, how are you guys doing? We're doing okay. We're just so thankful for the volunteers that are out here helping and putting their own lives at risk. We're just so blessed. What are some of the key characteristics of anyone who might volunteer? Anybody can volunteer. That's what's nice about it. It's not an age. You can be 80 years old. You can be 15 years old. It doesn't matter. It's all for me. I do not rescue people for living. It's just something I do as a volunteer to help out. You're going to be fine. So has this got you wondering whether or not you would be a good fit for a CERT team member? Well, a little bit later on in the show, we're going to have more on how you can become a CERT team member. But first, we're going to send it back over to Brian, who is still out here at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, who's got more on just what CERT is and what this training is all about, Brian. Yeah, that's right, Sean. And we talked about at the beginning of the show, CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. The key word in that is community. If you take a pride in where you live and making your community a better place, that's probably a good fit for you. Here's more on CERT. CERT or Community Emergency Response Team. You know, CERT training has its origins in the 1985 Mexico earthquake, where over 100 volunteers were killed trying to save folks that were injured in that catastrophe. Since 1985, thousands of communities worldwide have begun CERT programs. Their mission trained regular members of the community in basic disaster response, such as fire safety, light search and rescue and disaster medical operations. Volunteers make a huge difference in these emergencies and help with shelter, food distribution and response efforts. In the recent disasters we've had, we've seen that volunteers are the first ones to the scene in many cases and they're the ones that are doing those roles that professional responders otherwise would be. Nationwide, there are now over 3,000 local CERT programs with more than 600,000 trained CERT members. California is not only where CERT began, but it is also home to the most robust CERT numbers in the nation with over 400 CERT programs throughout California, training roughly 30,000 Californians annually. CERT really is a force multiplier. All of our agencies, law fire and medical services are limited in resources, so it's always great to have trained members of the community that you can rely on. They're there when you need them, they take on roles that you didn't even know you needed help with. You're being activated, they'd like you to report out to the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Kristi Adonis is with the Redwood City Fire Department. She heads up her local CERT program and says the only thing you need to join CERT is a desire. If I have someone that comes through my program and they tell me, hey, this is what I can do, these are what my needs are, but I want to participate. And I'll tell them, well, what is it that you like to do? And I'll find a spot for them. When you guys have these poles, guys, good? Good? Good. This training exercise in Alameda County is a well-planned, well-orchestrated example of how CERT teams can come together when needed and help at a time when first responders may still be on their way. By integrating CERT in today's exercise, this is a deliberative attempt, it's not just for show. It illustrates how we're going to use our actual neighborhood volunteer resources who, aside from the special training that we've given them, are really just regular citizens who've decided that they want to do more. They could be a victim, they could be prepared, or they could be, as we called, a superstar and come out and join the CERT team and then integrate with us. You know, it makes me feel good because every time I teach a CERT class, I tell them, you know, I'm happy that you're here. Join CERT today! Alright, so hopefully by now you may be saying to yourself that sounds very interesting. I want to actually learn more about getting involved in CERT. With more on that, I'm going to throw it back to my colleague, Sean Boyd. Yeah, thanks Brian. Okay, so as promised, we're going to answer some questions for you. I'm actually learning a lot about CERT. This is great. This has been great for me. I'm with Christy Adonis, who is with the Redwood City Fire Department. You have been sort of in charge of this little area, this station, but I want to ask you, what kind of a person makes a good CERT team member? Good CERT team members come from all over the community. A good CERT team member is someone that wants to learn about emergency response and emergency preparedness. A good CERT team member is someone who wants to be active in their community and learn more and be part of a team. As being part of that team, does it matter how mobile you are? Does it matter your level of physical preparedness? That's a great question. So when people come through the CERT class, a lot of times they'll ask me the same thing, and I tell them everybody is welcome to come to CERT training, and you will work in the CERT program, take the class, and do things to the best of your ability. If there's something that you can't do, then that's okay. You don't have to do it. And then once they're done with that, when they want to come back to the program and they tell me, hey, Christy, this is what I like to do. And I say, great, I'll find a spot for you. Beautiful. One last question. Now that everybody out there wants to become a CERT team member, right? They want to volunteer, where do they find out more information? So in our area, they would come to the city website and find that information there. But depending on where you live throughout the state of California, you can visit the Cal Volunteer's webpage. And if you're outside of the state of California, it's a nationwide program. You can visit FEMA, Ready.gov, and look for CERT. Perfect. Great information. Thanks a lot. Good luck with the rest of the training today, and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Christy Donis with the Redwood City Fire Department. So there you have it. I think I'm ready to volunteer. If I wasn't working so much, I certainly would. But anyway, Brian, back to you. This has been fun. Thanks, Sean, and our thanks to all of the CERT volunteers and all the first responders who took part in today's drill. For all of us at Cal OES, I'm Brian May. Thanks for watching. Visit our online newsroom at OESNews.com to learn more about this program and get the latest news and information from our team. Don't miss our next video on your Facebook timeline, like our page, and you'll get the latest posts as they happen. If you're an Instagram user, you can see the latest snapshots by following our Cal OES Instagram account. 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