Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Technical Library
This is a collection of materials from FEMA, items created by the CERT committee and items from other sources. This collection of documents will guide and assist you with the creation and management of a CERT program.Â
New items will be added as they are developed. If you have material you would like to share, please send them to us. Email us at [email protected] and note CERT in the email subject.
Below are descriptions of the various document types available in the library. A link is provided below each description to take you to that library.
Procedures
The Iowa CERT Support Committee creates various procedures that describe the how to of the activities the committee performs. Additionally, there are procedures that contain detail on CERT Instructor training, acknowledgement and management. This material is updated and added to as the committee develops additional items to support CERT in Iowa.
Click this link to enter the Procedures Library
Guides
The Iowa CERT Support Committee creates various Guide documents to provide a high-level overview of various topics. This material is intended to describe general concepts and reference information for teams, their sponsors and those looking to start a program.
Click this link to enter the Guides Library
Best Practices
A best practice is a special type of a sample document. They describe a method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to any alternatives. This is because it produces results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because it has become a standard way of doing things.
Note: The best practices will contain Policies, Standard Operating Guidelines and other documents that CERT team may use their specific situations. It is highly recommended that the minimum changes be made to any best practice document. As much research and vetting has been performed when creating a best practice, they are the standard that should be used by CERT organization in Iowa.
The jurisdiction having authority over the CERT team has the final authority over any resulting documents based upon any best practices offered by the Committee.
Click this link to enter the Best Practices Library
Sample Documents
Creating the various documents, such as polices, member handbooks and others, is not on many people’s top-10 list of things to do. Contained in this library is various sample documents you can use as a starting point to create your own. Browse through the library and you may see a document type you had not considered and want to add for your program.
The jurisdiction having authority over the CERT team has the final authority over any resulting documents based upon any samples offered by the Committee.
Note: The samples will contain Policies, Standard Operating Guidelines and other documents that CERT program may use and modify for their specific situations. CERT organizations should use these as a starting point to develop documents that fit their needs.
Click this link to enter the Samples Library
Instructor Resources
Do you instruct CERT Basic Training or continuing education class for your program? This library contains handouts and other items to help enhance learning of your class participants.
Click this link to enter the Instructor Tools Library
References
In the Procedures, Guides and other documents in the various libraries, there may be a list of reference documents. This library contains those and other references that may assist with the operation of your CERT program.