The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program, established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), educates and trains volunteers about disaster preparedness for potential local hazards . For example, a CERT member learns about fire safety, basic search and rescue, team organization, communication, and disaster medical operations. CERT members are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking roles in emergency preparedness projects in their community. This standard nationwide process ensures consistency of trained volunteers that emergency managers can rely on during disaster situations..

CERTs can be a critical resource for every community. Term members come from different backgrounds and bring unique knowledge and valuable expertise to emergency situations. Anne Culver, a CERT volunteer and manager, is a good example of the positive power CERTs have on their communities and the unique skills they bring.

Anne has extensive experience with several emergency response organizations, beginning with 10 years as the Lead of the American Red Cross Disaster Action Team (DAT in Arlington, Virginia, responding to human needs in local emergencies, such as house fires, blizzards, and ice storms  

For 30 years she volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol, a voluntary auxiliary of the US Air Force (USA) which provides leadership and emergency response training for teens and adults. Here she empowered young CAP volunteers to develop skills to take themselves seriously as adults-to-be. She also helped adult members develop transferrable skills, all while providing a major service to the state emergency management and USAF in search and rescue and disaster services. She retired as a lieutenant colonel having served as squadron and group commander and been deployed in more than six emergency specialties.

As the Director of Disaster Services on staff and as a Training Consultant at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) for 12 years, Anne managed emergency responses across the nation ranging from the massive California wildfires and flooding in Louisiana, West Virginia, and the Midwest. She developed and normalized training in all aspects of rescue and sheltering of animals during a wide variety of disasters, from local flooding affecting a stable of horses, to sheltering of pets after Hurricane Katrina, to supporting local humane animal shelters and pet owners after the terrorist attacks of 2011. While this was a professional, paid position, Anne knows that her volunteer experience in CERT was key in transferring her skills to a new arena.

She began her professional career at the World Bank. After more than 13 years, Anne began a freelance career writing proposals, corporate documentation, and procedures for organizations and business  In the aviation industry for 7 years she managed a magazine for aircraft maintenance professionals and facilitated and documented FAA safety processes all around the country, before going to The HSUS.

Having learned about CERT from the internet, she coordinated with her state and county emergency management agencies to establish Montgomery County (MC) Maryland’s first CERT in 2002-2003 and served for ten years as its vice president and president, and as an emerita in the nearly 20 years since. During her time with the CERT. Anne’s professional knowledge and practical response and management experience allowed her to create positive change in her community and provide a valuable volunteer experience for individual CERT members.

Today, 2021, MCCERT has grown to be a credible resource in the community and serves as a powerful tool for professional emergency managers and volunteer responders in the National Capital Region. For example The team has provided situational awareness to emergency managers about COVID-19 prevention and risk-related tweets communicated in the National Capital Region (NCR). 

In other emergency events, MCCERT has supported emergency notification, evacuation, transportation, and relocation of residents from apartment complex fires, river and stream flooding, snow emergencies, and other activities. This allows the emergency responders to provide the more complex services, such as emergency medical services, high-angle technical rescue, and firefighting. MCCERT provides a range of services at non-emergency events, such as large sporting events, providing first aid stations, communication, and safety patrols.

Here at OPTIC Lab, we have worked with Anne Culver and MCCERT in our National Science Foundation (NSF) funded projects. MCCERT team was an integral part of the research we conducted as part of an NSF RAPID and in an NSF CIVIC project 2020 and 2021. MCCERT members worked virtually during the COVID-19 Pandemic to search through social media data, and identify and characterize information that could assist emergency managers.

Volunteering with a CERT helps the community, but it also offers valuable training opportunities and experience for the individual. The disaster and emergency preparedness skills people gain as volunteers, as well as organizational and management skills, allow them to prepare their families for disasters and help their own community.

Anne’s interesting journey illustrates how CERT members can make positive changes in their communities. Here at OPTIC Lab, we are lucky to work with her and learn from her expertise. Together we hope to create powerful new training materials that can benefit CERT organizations throughout the U.S.