Teen CERT Waitlist
CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training academies are offered by Santa Clara County Fire Department. SCCFD refers students ages 13–18 to the Santa Clara County Teen CERT Volunteer Program.
What is Teen CERT?
The Teen CERT Program is focused on training teens (13-18) in Emergency Preparedness and basic response to ensure that they have the skills they may need to protect themselves and assist others in an emergency.
This program is ideal for helping teens develop and broaden their leadership skills while collaborating with others to benefit their community. Teen CERT Program participants may also:
- Assist with their school’s emergency preparedness and response to disasters
- Run an on-campus Teen CERT Club
- Be featured in news articles and create their own marketing and media
This slideshow captures moments from our Teen CERT Academy held in March 2024.
Watch the recap (YouTube)
How it Works
The Teen CERT Program consists of in-person and hands-on skills training. The program is 16-20 hours of classroom instructions alongside hands-on skills training in the following areas:
- Disaster Preparedness
- CERT Organization
- Medical Operations
- Search and Rescue / Damage Assessment
- Disaster Psychology
- Fire Safety and Utilities
- Terrorism and Hazardous Materials
The final day is putting all the skills together and practicing disaster response in a simulated disaster scenario.
On November 4, 2023, the LAH CERT and Teen CERT teams joined for a practice exercise, which simulated the aftermath of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Watch the recap (YouTube)
Join the Action: Moulage Volunteers Bring Disaster Response Training to Life
Moulage is the art of using special effects makeup to simulate realistic injuries during emergency response team training. On CERT Graduation days, volunteers undergo moulage to replicate common injuries experienced after a disaster, including burns, bleeding, and bruises. These volunteer ‘victims’ play a crucial role in disaster simulations, offering CERTs a valuable opportunity to hone skills like search and rescue, medical assessments, and first aid. Moreover, it can be a lot of fun – some of our volunteers really love to get into character!
