Organizing a CERT team it is actually quite easy. You need to remember the Job Descriptions at the end of this article are suggested for various positions and functions, and will probably need to be modified to fit your team's mission and goals. If a disaster strikes, follow the Incident Command System (ICS) which says the first person on the scene is the incident commander (or team leader) until relieved by someone more qualified or the assigned team leader arrives.

In general, the team should meet together as a whole at least bi-monthly, and elect team officers at least bi-annually. Remember, these people need not be technically qualified (i.e.; don't need certificates of training). Rather, team officers should be the team members who are capable of making decisions that will benefit the team (both pre and post disaster) and can dedicate the time necessary to administer the team's pre-disaster activities (i.e.; fund raising, training sessions, etc.).

There are five positions that must be filled for each new team in order for the team to be considered active or functional. These are: team leader, logistics officer, medical operations officer, search and rescue officer and fire suppression officer. Notice that these titles are the same as the team sub-sections given in the CERT training manual. You should also elect a communications officer and other positions (i.e.; media relations or historian) your team feels are needed if you have a sufficient number of personnel on your team.

In every disaster, untrained volunteers always show up asking what they can do to help. Each team officer can, in just a few short minutes, teach these volunteers to do specific jobs for the team during a response. Your team of five officers can grow quickly to a team of 30 or more if you make effective use of these untrained volunteers.

It is best to keep teams small (10 - 30 people), and have more of them, than to have one large team spread over an area too large to manage. The team's boundaries or service area should be defined or mapped. Typically, service area boundaries follow religious boundaries (such as parishes, wards and so forth), school district boundaries, electoral or voting precincts, or grid boundaries defined by local emergency managers. 

Figure VI-1. CERT Structure

Tax Exempt Status

There are basically three ways to organize your team to take advantage of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Tax Exempt Organization status. These are: 1) affiliate your team with your local government's emergency service department (such as Fire or Police); 2) Form a Chapter of an existing 501c3 Tax Exempt Organization such as AVERT; 3) Incorporate your organization and apply for US IRS Tax Exempt Organization status under section 501c3 or the IRS Code.

Perhaps the easiest and least expensive method of gaining tax exempt status is to formally affiliate your CERT with your local government's emergency management, fire or police department. AVERT recommends that you enter into a written agreement (also known as a Memorandum Of Understanding or MOU) that specifies support services such as meeting facilities, phone and web site services, fiscal management, and CERT activation criteria. This MOU will become the basis of your team's written response plan.

Some advantages of Government Affiliation:

• Automatic Tax Exempt Status as an extension of a Public Safety Agency
• Qualifies your team for Department of Homeland Security and other government grant funds
• Team Members are protected by government Worker's Compensation Insurance
• Government Emergency Planners assist your team in writing plans and procedures

Some disadvantages of Government Affiliation:

• Team is not autonomous and activities are restricted by Government Sponsors
• Teams typically must follow government policies and procedures and request budget funds at least annually
• May limit funding from private grant making foundations or restrict other fund raising activities
• May limit recruiting by requiring background checks or other personal privacy concerns

AVERT and other nonprofit organizations offer opportunities to form Chapters (what IRS calls Subordinate Organizations) which operate under the policies and procedures of the Central Organization. Unlike AVERT, some organizations require financial ties back to the parent organization (perhaps in the form of membership dues or charter fees). The IRS requires the Central Organization to apply for a "Group Exemption Letter" each year which must include financial statements from each Chapter. Read AVERT's "Policy and Procedure 3000, AVERT Chapters" to better understand the relationship between Central and Subordinate Organizations.

Some advantages of forming Chapters:

• Much of the Organizational infrastructure is already defined
• Financial support from the Central Orgaization's proven fund raising strategies
• Less paperwork and startup costs
• Tax exempt status is conferred upon acceptance of your Chapter by the Parent Organization

Some disadvantages of forming Chapters:

• Must adopt the mission and goals of the Central Organization
• Approvals from Central Organization may be required for unique initiatives
• Chapter leadership typically serves at the pleasure of the Parent Organization
• Tax exempt status can be revoked if you report late to the Central Organization or you operate outside your charter

Incorporation is perhaps the most difficult and time consuming method of obtaining tax exempt status for your team. Organizing Committees must draft enabling documents (such as Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws), make applications and pay fees to State departments of business regulation, and make application and possibly pay fees to the IRS for Employer ID Numbers (EINs) as well as tax exempt status (or what is called a letter of determination). Even local governments may require applications and fees for Business Licenses and Solicitation Permits. If this is your desire, it would pay greatly for you to visit the IRS Web Site for Nonprofit Organizations.

Some Advantages of Incorporation:

• Ability to define mission and goals exactly as envisioned by the founders
• Autonomous operations giving flexibility to programs and projects
• Complete control over finances and fund raising campaigns
• Ability to expand the organization nationally or internationally

Some disadvantages of Incorporation:

• Tax exempt status is conditioned on meeting specific financial tests as defined by the IRS for up to a five year period (see the IRS pamphlet about tax exempt status for organizations)
• Tax exempt status can be revoked if you significantly change mission, goals or operations
• Startup costs and reporting requirements increase significantly, especially when Chapters are formed
• Organizational governance is usually vested in a multi-member Board of Trustees or Directors

The foregoing pros and cons are not comprehensive. You must research the needs of your community and the local, state and federal business regulations that would apply to your organization. You must draft enabling documents and choose the organizing method that best meets your mission and goals.

Whether forming a Neighborhood Team, or an International Corporation, you will be the driving force and must ensure that every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed! You must organize your team so that it will perpetuate your mission and goals long after you have left the organization. Please feel free to contact AVERT if you have questions about organizing or tax exempt status.

AVERT has developed various MOUs, agreements and contracts that you could use for your organization after making minor modifications to fit your mission and goals. AVERT can also provide you with contacts and resources to help you get organized and operational. The following section gives some ideas for job descriptions of the various leadership positions that form a CERT.

CERT Job Descriptions 

The "pre-disaster" team leader duties are:

• keep rosters and training records of the CERT members within his/her team;
• develop a written response plan for team operations for the types of disasters your team is likely to encounter;
• seek advanced training and schedule periodic table-top or small scale drill meetings to hone the team member skills;
• develop and maintain a cache of supplies and equipment needed to implement your response plan, and insure that they are kept current and weatherproof;
• schedule regular meetings with CERT members to keep "in-touch" and address any issues that face the team as a whole;
• encourage team members to keep current on disaster preparedness skills;
• with the help of team members, take pre-disaster surveys to seek out post-disaster resources, personnel, tools, and equipment;
• develop and maintain a neighborhood map indicating CERT members, block captains, possible hazards, physically impaired persons, active wells, staging areas/EOC's, and cache(s);
• be friendly and include all team members no matter religion, race, creed, etc.

The team leader duties during "response" are:

• Implement the team response plan upon arrival at the command center;
• perform preliminary damage assessments;
• list all team members and volunteers including duty assignments, shift schedules and current location;
• receive and evaluate all incoming field reports and data;
• list all available resources, begin a status board, establish communications with local EOC(s);
• assign personnel based on abilities or limitations and assign SAR, Fire, Medical and Logistics teams to specific jobs based on evaluation of available information;
• Insure sufficient food, water, shelter and rest for each team member or volunteer.

The "pre-disaster" logistics officer duties are:

• assist the team leader in developing the team response plan;
• develop lists of supplies and equipment needed to implement the response plan;
• locate a site for the team cache which is reasonably secure, yet accessible, and is away from potential hazards such as flooding streams and the like;
• develop several donation campaigns aimed at procuring items for the cache;
• develop and maintain a running inventory of all cache items;
• develop liaisons with local emergency managers, fire departments or rescue companies.

The logistics officer duties during "response" are:

• open the team cache and set up the staging area;
• list all team members and volunteers as they arrive at the staging area;
• establish communications with team members and other EOCs;
• develop a shift schedule of disaster workers and equipment/supplies resources list;
• issue supplies and equipment from the team cache;
• account for all materials issued at all times;
• arrange for food, water and shelter for all team members, volunteers and displaced people in the service area;

The "pre-disaster" medical officer duties are:

• assist the team leader and logistics officer in team response plan development including lists of necessary supplies and equipment;
• develop or obtain documentation forms (i.e; triage tags, patient assessments, in/out logs, etc.);
• identify training needs of medical staff and arrange special training sessions as needed;
• locate sites for use as treatment areas and morgues.

The medical officer duties during "response" are:

• setup triage, treatment and morgue areas;
• obtain medical supplies and equipment from the logistics officer;
• assign triage, treatment and transportation teams and issue needed supplies, equipment and documentation;
• insure each team member or volunteer follows current accepted medical treatment protocols.

The "pre-disaster" search and rescue officer duties are:

• assist the team leader and logistics officer in team response plan development including lists of necessary supplies and equipment, and evacuation plans for the neighborhood;
• develop or obtain documentation forms (i.e; triage tags, damage assessments, maps, etc.);
• identify training needs of SAR staff and arrange special training sessions as needed;
• locate sites having special hazards and collect and map data on team maps;
• perform neighborhood surveys to locate neighbors with special needs, etc., also map this data.

The search and rescue officer duties during a "response" are:

• setup search grids and prioritize search areas;
• obtain medical and SAR supplies and equipment from the logistics officer;
• assign triage, search and safety teams and issue needed supplies, equipment and documentation;
• insure each team member or volunteer follows current accepted safety protocols.

The "pre-disaster" fire suppression officer duties are:

• assist the team leader and logistics officer in team response plan development including lists of necessary supplies and fire fighting equipment;
• develop or obtain documentation forms (i.e; damage assessments, maps, etc.);
• identify training needs of fire suppression staff and arrange special training sessions as needed;
• locate sites having special fire or hazardous materials, collect and map data on team maps.

The fire suppression officer duties during a "response" are:

• setup search grids and prioritize fire suppression activities;
• obtain fire extinguishers and fire fighting equipment from the logistics officer;
• assign fire suppression teams and issue needed supplies, equipment and documentation;
• insure each team member or volunteer follows current accepted safety protocols.