NYC Cert

Paul Cypher

All NYC CERT members are required to undergo an intensive 10-week training program that raises awareness about emergencies and disasters and provides basic response skills needed for fire safety, light search and rescue, disaster medical operations, and traffic control.

Held on consecutive evenings for 10 weeks within one of the five boroughs, classes are approximately three hours long and are interactive with relevant emergency and disaster discussions and group-building activities based on the Incident Command System (ICS). NYC CERT instructors are active FDNY, NYPD, and NYC Emergency Management personnel.

The 10 weeks of training include:

Introduction to NYC CERT and ICS
Urban Environment I: High-rise and Utility Emergencies
Urban Environment II: Transportation
Urban Environment III: Building Community Disaster Networks
Disaster Medical Operations
Fire Safety
Light Search and Rescue
Police Science and Terrorism Awareness
During the last class of the training, volunteers participate in a disaster simulation that ties the entire curriculum for response and ICS, including live "victims" from active CERTs.

Upon completion of the 10 weeks of training, volunteers are invited to a formal graduation ceremony and proceed to join their local CERT and support their communities by assisting with emergency education and response.