Community Emergency Response Team

The City of Albany, the Albany Fire Department, and Albany CERT are proud to provide Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training to help prepare Albany to be as resilient as possible.

Through this free program, individuals will learn the basics of personal preparedness and prevention. The training also includes hands-on disaster skills that will help individuals respond to a personal emergency, as well as act as members of a neighborhood response team.

CERT Training Classes are now Open for Enrollment

We are pleased to announce CERT training sessions for Albany CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), authorized by the Albany Fire Department, Cal OES (California Office of Emergency Services), and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

Trainings are limited to 16 people per course and two training series are planned annually.

Why CERT Training is essential:

When an emergency or disaster situation happens, CERT Trained residents will be the help before the City or Government responders arrive. Our goal is to provide the most assistance to the most people.
A well-trained and well-coordinated group of CERT Trained residents can make a massive difference in life-or-death situations created by an earthquake, wildfire, or other disasters. In a big event, each neighboring city in the region will focus on its own community needs, so we must be self-sufficient. Our City of Albany has only one fire truck to respond to the most critical situation.
Most of our residents will be on their own to manage the disaster in their homes and neighborhoods for hours or days. A well-trained CERT team will save more lives.

CERT Training Schedule:

The first class of the next nine-class session begins on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Each session is from 6-9 pm at the Albany Community Center.
The remaining classes are on the following six Tuesdays, ending October 24, 2024, for the in-person Skills Training Session and final exam. The exact dates are: 4/16, 4/23, 4/30, 5/7, 5/14, 5/21, 5/28, and on 6/4 for a Skills Training Session and final exam.
Albany City Council CERT acknowledgment is to be determined. You will receive your Certificate of CERT Training Completion.
Future training classes will be scheduled twice annually, from March to May and September-November.

Make-Up Sessions and Optional Training :

Anyone may register for the Cal OES online CERT courses to make up any session or do the entire course online.
You may complete make-up classes for missed sessions any time before the final class session, for which you must be present. Use the Cal OES CSTI account as directed in item 4 under “Sign-up Process” to do a make-up class. The course is “CERT Basic Emergency Response Training - Three easy steps.” Provide a copy of your certificate of completion.
Alternatively, there may be opportunities to drop in on a specific course at another city’s CERT Training nearby. These would be only to make up for sessions missed in Albany.

Sign-up Process:

Enrollment is now open. Email AlbanyCERT@gmail.com with the training dates in the order you prefer. Only include dates that you are available for the entire span of eight evening classes of 3 hours.
o 2024 April to June
o 2024 September to November
o 2025 April to June
We will notify you of your registration status within three days of submitting your preferred dates.
Register a new login for your Cal OES CSTI account. CSTI is California Specialized Training Institute. Complete your registration before the first session. Please send me an email with your CSTI registration number. The CSTI site records any online progress of your CSTI CERT Training and is the method for making up missed class sessions.
Register a new login for your FEMA account. While you don’t need a FEMA ID for our CERT Training, FEMA offers many helpful classes on Emergency Preparedness. You may want to extend your training in specific topics. Additionally, we plan to provide ID badges for all completed CERT Trained students in Albany and include your FEMA ID on your badge. You should register your FEMA account before the first session. Please send me an email with your FEMA ID number.

Cancellation:

If you registered for this eight-class session and determine that you cannot attend the course dates or complete the make-up sessions, please email me as soon as possible. We want to offer your seat to another person on the waitlist and schedule you for a later course.

Cost to Participate:

There is no cost to attend Albany CERT Training. In return, you will complete the course. Make-up Sessions as outlined above before the final Skills Session and final exam.
You will receive your own CERT backpack at the first session. There is no cost for CERT backpacks and equipment.

Expectations of being CERT Trained

Not everyone can meet these expectations, but we encourage you to do those that interest you most as time allows.
Quarterly CERT Community meetings in person at the Albany Community center from 7-8 pm. Zoom online attendance is also available. The 2024/25 meeting dates are on the Fifth Wednesdays, which are May 29, 2024; October 30, 2024; January 29, 2025; April 30, 2025; July 30, 2025; and October 29, 2025. More information is at the Albany CERT website at www.albanycert.org.
Support your Block Captain. If your neighborhood does not have a Block Captain, consider taking on that role or finding other neighbors to take this on. Many blocks have migrated to Block Captain Teams, which is shared leadership. Find out how to organize your neighborhood. See the Block Captain web page and the Block Captain Manual on the Albany website.
Refresh and hone your skills. Consider taking a CPR, AED, and First Aid course with Red Cross.
Prepare your own home and family first. Before being an active CERT contributor, your family’s safety and security must be stable. With this preparation done, you can support the needs of your community. Prepare go-kits for your family, make a family safety plan, and get water storage containers.
Volunteer for various CERT activities, including neighborhood Resilience Hubs, City Cache inspections, and training exercises.
If you are interested in radio communication on GMRS or HAM radio, consider joining Albany CERT Radio Club at albanyradio@groups.io. We check in every Wednesday at 7 pm on simplex Channel 19. Our goal is to be able to communicate around the Albany neighborhood if the cell phone lines go down. With radio, we can provide mutual support between CERT command posts.

Thanks for your interest in becoming CERT Trained. We look forward to working with you to make Albany a safer place to live.

Upcoming Events

Check out upcoming events happening for CERT or other trainings happening in the Albany community.

Become a Block Captain.

Those who have completed the CERT program have the option of signing up to be a Block Captain. A Block Captain’s primary role is to help neighbors with a common interest in disaster preparedness organize their block events, and build and form CERT teams.

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the goal of CERT?

The purpose of the CERT program is to help the residents of Albany to be self sufficient in a major disaster situation by developing multifunctional teams, cross trained in basic emergency skills. Our eventual goal is to have at least one person per block that has been educated or is knowledgeable of the standards that are exemplified by CERT. The City of Albany refers to these individuals as Block Captains.

What teams are already formed?

Get in touch with AlbanyCERT@gmail.com to learn more about neighborhood teams already present in Albany.

How much does training cost?

CERT training, both online and in-person, is free to the public.

What do Block Captains do?

A Block Captain’s primary role is to help neighbors with a common interest in disaster preparedness organize their block events, and build and form CERT teams. The Block Captain, in consultation with block participants, makes decisions regarding meeting dates, times, frequency, location and agendas. Learn more:

What does training involve?

Participants will learn hands-on disaster skills that will help them as members of an emergency response team, and preparing them to respond to personal emergencies. Topics include: disaster preparedness, fire safety and utility control, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue operations, CERT organization, disaster psychology, terrorism, and disaster simulation.