National CERT Conference Recap

Editor's Note: The Community Preparedness, Recovery, and Resiliency (CPR-R) initiative explores and strengthens the efforts of people, organizations, and communities in navigating disasters. Rather than focusing on the space of short-term responsive actions, this initiative examines opportunities to optimize efforts in preparedness, recovery, and resilience toward long-term impact.

Day 1
The conference opened with a focus on reimagining youth engagement and building community resilience. A key highlight was the Teen CERT program model, which demonstrates that hands-on, team-based camp experiences are vital for teaching emergency response. Though these programs do face ongoing funding and liability hurdles. I learned that partnering with local high school principals can catalyze the formation of successful student-led teams.

I also learned about the "whole-community" preparedness model exemplified by Bainbridge Island Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), where a fully integrated network of volunteers, ranging from neighborhood captains to ham radio operators, supports community events and resilience. A crucial takeaway was the importance of building trust and humanity before a crisis hits, rather than relying on response alone.

I wrapped up the day with some fun, tactile team-building exercises, emphasizing that non-verbal communication is often more impactful than words. For CERT, applying these "whole-community" engagement strategies and supporting youth leadership through school partnerships represents a strong template for resilience.

In the exhibit hall, I connected with The Olson Group, Ltd. to learn about designing community exercises, and with Mark Dahlen CERT.VIP, who has developed a portal for managing volunteer networks, which could be a powerful tool locally.
Day 2
Friday focused on "listen-first" community engagement and innovative, gamified outreach. Caroline Thomas Jacobs from the California Governor's Office emphasized that resilient systems require accessible, multilingual warning systems and that we must be willing to imagine and evolve our current structures.

One work session highlighted "beyond the booth and brochure" outreach, using games like safety bingo and FEMA's interactive cards to draw in crowds. The great tips provided will be shared with our local CERT's.

I was particularly impressed by the Woodinville High School model (see CERT Syllabus), where a basic CERT training was expanded into a 70-hour semester course, creating a pipeline of "disaster-confident" youth. This concept of engaging students as peer leaders is something we might want to consider piloting in the TPF four-county region.

Another standout was the Richmond, CA model, where CERT is deeply embedded in city operations—using neighborhood Incident Command Posts that report directly to the city's Emergency Operations Center.

I also picked up several great gamification tools for team building, like Monster Guard and stopdisastersgame.org, that could bring real energy to our upcoming CERT Summit.

Day 3
The final day centered on the necessity of redundant communications and the role of new technologies like AI. Kerry Lewis reminded us that relying solely on cellular networks is dangerous; having an analog backup plan with printed maps, towel signals, or burner phones is essential. It is important to prioritize physical communication plans, like maps and contact cards, that can survive in an emergency if the grid goes down.

There was a work session on "CERT Bots," which use local data to answer questions and train volunteers. While the technology is complex, it's clear that CERT's could leverage custom AI assistants to make their resource libraries more accessible.

The field trip to the Newport Beach Fire Department was a fantastic ending, showcasing their unique model where lifeguards lead over 1,500 junior lifeguards. More info can be found here. This youth-driven integration is a gold standard for Newport Beach.

 
As a happy ending to our trip, we attended an Angels vs. Phillies baseball game! It's an outdoor stadium, and for us the weather was beautiful - to Californians, not so much. They thought 80-degree weather with 72% humidity was terrible!