Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Laramie County
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)
3962 Archer Parkway
Cheyenne, WY 82009

CERT Facebook Page
CERT Page on Serve Wyoming Site

The Laramie County CERT group meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 6pm at the Cheyenne/Laramie County EMA office at 3962 Archer Parkway.

Beth Harris
CERT Program Manager
307-633-4336
307-421-3387
beth.harris@laramiecountywy.gov

Bob Sherard
CERT Coordinator
307-214-6357
sherard640@aol.com

Welcome to the Laramie County CERT site! This site has been designed for everyone, of all ages, interested in emergency preparedness, training, and volunteering with the Laramie County CERT group. Here you will find information on our CERT program and links to other sites associated with CERT.

About CERT

The Community Emergency Response Team Concept was developed and implemented by the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) in 1985. The Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 underscored the area-wide threat of a major disaster in California. Further, it confirmed the need for training civilians to meet their immediate needs. As a result, the LAFD created the Disaster Preparedness Division with the purpose of training citizens and private and government employees.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster medical operations. The CERT training covers:

Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT volunteers can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. The listed topics will teach you:

• Steps to prepare yourself for a disaster
• Identify and reduce potential fire hazards in your home or workplace
• Teamwork during response at an incident
• How to apply life-saving techniques until professional responders arrive
• Common techniques for searching a structure
• The use of safe techniques for debris removal and victim extrication
• Ways to protect rescuers during search and rescue operations

CERT volunteers also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. Included on our webpage, there are some great additional resources for the community on how you can better prepare yourself in the event of an emergency as well as upcoming events for you to attend or volunteer with.

Become a CERT Volunteer

The Laramie County CERT is dedicated to helping and training the whole community to better prepare during times of disasters. We strive to make sure that the community has an active role in providing critical support in a safe manner to emergency service personnel during emergencies/disasters. Volunteers include people from our local neighborhoods, businesses, faith communities, schools and clubs/organizations. CERT volunteers are described as:

• Citizens of our community
• Ready to help out their community
• Willing to learn new skills
• Motivated to try something new
• Individuals who like meeting new people

If this describes you, we would be excited to have you on our team! So, if you have additional questions or would like to be contacted about becoming a CERT volunteer, please complete and email the online form(PDF, 513KB) provided on this page to the CERT contact email - laramiecocert@gmail.com.

For those under 18 years of age, that are interested in CERT, at this time we do not have an official training program. However, if you would like to participate in our trainings or events please have a parent/guardian contact us using the online form(PDF, 513KB) and specify that you are a teen seeking information on our CERT group.

CERT Basic Course

The success of the CERT program is contingent on the quality of training. The LCEMA CERT program has designed its course based on the FEMA CERT training guidelines, with some adjustments, to accommodate the needs of Laramie County. The CERT Basic Course has 2 components, a lecture portion (offered online) and a hands-on portion. To help accommodate everyone’s schedules, those interested in learning the CERT skills may take the CERT Basic Course’s lecture portion through the University of Utah Online CERT Basic Course and then attend the hands-on training offered through the Cheyenne/Laramie County Emergency Management Agency at least twice each year. The advantage of this hybrid option is that the lecture portion can be taken at your own pace and the hands-on can be completed when the trainings work for your schedule.

In order to receive full credit for being a trained CERT volunteer, both the lecture material and the hands-on activities must be completed. This includes a final exam and participation in the CERT exercise. A certificate showing proof of completion for each lecture unit, the hands-on activities, and exercise must be provided to LCEMA in order to receive your training completion certificate for the entire course.

Other CERT Trainings

CERT Activity Calendar
CERT Volunteer Opportunities(PDF, 490KB)