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Structure
San Mateo CERT includes the following groups:
Steering Committee
The purpose of the Steering Committee is to drive the CERT program and communicate with the City. This group is made up of Fire Department representatives and two members from each Emergency Response District.
Emergency Response Districts
There are six Emergency Response Districts (ERDs) in San Mateo and each is made up of groups of neighborhoods. After completing CERT training, each graduate is assigned to an ERD, based on where in San Mateo the person lives. ERDs:
- Choose a location for their staging area to be used during an emergency.
- Build supply and equipment caches for their ERD.
- Maintain activation guidelines, including a communications plan, to be used during an emergency.
- Maintain training and skill records for members of the ERD.
- Maintain resource records for members of the ERD, including such things as tools, communication devices, and first aid supplies.
- Help get the word out to people in the ERD who have not yet taken Get Ready or CERT training.
Each ERD has an ERD Coordinator who attends CERT Steering Committee Meetings and reports back to the ERD on items of interest from those meetings.
Neighborhoods
Within each ERD are neighborhoods, made up of groups of neighbors within a block or other manageable unit. It is essential to have a coordinator who works with their neighbors to make sure everyone knows how to prepare for an emergency and what to do during an emergency. This person is known as a Neighborhood Coordinator and is the primary motivating force in the neighborhood. This person will become the local "expert" in disaster preparedness and will become the neighborhood's leader after a disaster. Before the disaster, the coordinator is responsible for organizing a number of activities, including holding meetings, maintaining records of skills and resources in the neighborhood, and participating in training and drills.
Families/Individuals
Individuals who participate in CERT do the following:
- Prepare an emergency kit for their household
- Take CERT training
- Take additional training based on their interests and skills
- Participate in desktop and live drills, within their neighborhood, within their ERD, and citywide
- Attend meetings, depending on the scope of their interest (at least one a year for their neighborhood)
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