Explaining the pre-disaster integration of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs)

Abstract

This study explored the pre-disaster integration of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) within local emergency management systems through semi-structured telephone interviews with 21 CERT program coordinators. It was found that the integration of CERTs varied significantly from not integrated at all to highly integrated. This paper reports the findings related to why this variation occurred. Specifically, it was found that integration seemed to covary with the resources available to the team, the opportunity within the local emergency management system for the CERT to play a role, the team’s leadership, the formality of the team’s structure, and the acceptance of CERT within the local emergency management system.