History of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
Portland Fire & Rescue staff contributed to the development of a national Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. The Portland version, Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NET), was the third CERT program in the country.
History of Portland NET
The following narrative comes from an email interview with Rachel Jacky in 2019. Rachel Jacky is the original Coordinator for the Portland NET program and led the program design.
In 1993, two events laid groundwork for what would become the Portland NET Program. First, Portland Fire & Rescue (PF&R) launched the Community Emergency Services Program (CES). PF&R envisioned the Program building partnerships with community groups to improve public safety.
Second, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) published research on subduction zone earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest. The research pointed to the possibility of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake happening soon.
Understanding the scale of the damage such an earthquake could do, Portland bureaus set to planning and preparation. To PF&R, the idea of enlisting Portlanders to promote household preparedness made sense. Meanwhile, in early 1994, San Francisco’s fire department (SFFD) began the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team program (NERT). PF&R learned about NERT through the “fire service grapevine”. NERT took the role of community members a step beyond helping with household preparedness; NERT trained the community in basic emergency response. SFFD viewed trained NERT volunteers as adjuncts to uniformed responders during widespread emergencies.
PF&R studied the NERT program model and training materials. SFFD provided great support - everything from training manuals and slide sets (yes, we were using film slides in those days!) to advice on recruiting and training fire fighters as volunteer trainers.
Portland NET began in Spring of 1994. PF&R Chief Robert Wall and other leaders gave a green light to pilot volunteer responder training as part of the Community Emergency Services program. We referred to it as the Neighborhood Emergency Team training - or, “NET” (one battalion chief liked the acronym, saying it referred to the community teams as the City’s “safety net” when the Big One happened).
The CES Coordinator worked with emergency management at PF&R and other bureaus (notably Transportation) creating training materials. The Coordinator also worked with PF&R officers to identify uniformed fire fighters with experience and enthusiasm to work as trainers and coaches for the new NET trainees.
PF&R evaluated several guiding questions while designing the curriculum, such as whether it would be accessible to all potential volunteers. Based on PF&R’s evaluation of community needs and resources, program coordinators selected Parkrose, Sylvan Highlands, Concordia, and Hayden Island as pilot neighborhoods for NET.
PF&R marketed the NET training through the Neighborhood Associations in each of those targeted areas. Over 100 signed up and PF&R conducted the first round of NET training. Trainers conducted seven 3-hour sessions on Wednesday evenings at Station #1 downtown and Saturday mornings at Station #2 in Parkrose. Both classes went through a 4-hour final exercise to finish their basic training.
Given the success of the pilot, PF&R committed to continuing NET. To introduce NETs as a new response asset in widespread emergencies, City Council heard a report on the program and PF&R introduced the new NET members. Over 70 graduates, wearing NET safety hard hats and vests, attended. City Council members shared in presenting the ID badge to and shaking the hand of every NET member. NET had arrived!
Milestones in the Development of the Portland NET Program
| January 26, 1700 | An estimated 8.7 - 9.2 magnitude megathrust earthquake strikes the Pacific Northwest coast, producing a tsunami that washes up to the coast of Japan. Though local First Nations groups in area pass on knowledge of the event through oral tradition, it will be another 286 years before scientists grasp the implications of the quake. |
| February, 1985 | Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel travel to Japan to study citizen responder programs. |
| September 19, 1985 | An 8.0 earthquake strikes the greater Mexico City area, resulting in the deaths of at least 5,000 people, possibly as many as 45,000. Spontaneous rescuers are credited with saving hundreds of lives, but several of them lose their own lives or are seriously injured in rescue attempts. The event emphasizes the need for citizen responder programs. |
| Early 1986 | The first team of 30 people complete basic CERT training in Los Angeles. |
| March, 1986 | Geologist Brian Atwater finds evidence of seismic activity from the Cascadia Subduction Zone. |
| May 11, 1994 | First Basic NET class. This pilot class is made up of over one hundred volunteers from three Portland neighborhoods. |
| December 12, 1995 |
