The District is well prepared to handle everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents will likely far exceed its ability to provide effective emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is centered around an all-risk, all-hazard training course. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation. CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster preparedness where citizens will learn to take independent actions that are critical to a successful outcome. While people will respond to others in need without training, the CERT course is designed to help them do so safely and effectively.

With the successful completion of CERT training, students are eligible to be sworn in as Disaster Service Worker Volunteers for the municipality in which they live. The State of California Disaster Service Worker Volunteer Program (DSWVP) provides workers' compensation insurance coverage in the event a Disaster Service Worker (DSW) volunteer is injured while performing assigned disaster duties. DSW volunteers are used throughout the state to augment first responders in a state of war, state of emergency, or a local emergency disaster, and to assist in recovery activities following a catastrophic event.