About your CERT team

CERT team members are your neighbors. They have received training in damage assessment, basic first aid, light search and rescue, and coordinating with professional responders. If there is a large-scale event, you can find them in McKelvey Park, across from the concessions booth/ at the top of the stairs. CERT team members will be wearing green vests. 

The Saint Francis Acres neighborhood covers from Park Drive to Gilmore, bounded by Springer Road and McKelvey Park, plus the Bell Meadows neighborhood on the other side of Saint Joseph School, as shown in light blue on the map below.  

Mountain View CERT team  boundaries 

What CERT does in an emergency

CERT sets up a neighborhood headquarters (a.k.a. command post) in McKelvey Park (corner of Miramonte and Park Drive) with team members responsible for coordinating various aspects of the response and a ham radio connection to the City of Mountain View's Emergency Operations Center. The team will set up across from the concession booth/ at the top of the stairs coming from the parking lot. The team will:

• Assesses the neighborhood for damage including fires, casualties, gas leaks, structural damage, and road obstructions, and report to the city emergency services. 

• Collect information about missing people or pets.

• Provide basic first aid. 

• Perform light search and rescue. If the situation is beyond the skill or resources of the team, assistance from the professional responders will be requested.

What you can do to assist CERT in an emergency

In a large scale emergency, the CERT team will be in need of extra hands for a variety of tasks. You can volunteer at the command post table. Here are some ways you can help:

• Do you have medical training? Anything from a basic first aid class, to fully qualified doctor will be welcome.

• Are you a member of your company's ERT/ MERT team? You've got most of the training already.

• Multi-lingual? Translators may be needed.

• Decent handwriting? There is a lot of hand-written note-taking required to help transcribe radio and other communication.

• Good with animals? Lost pets are common in an emergency. 

• Good with kids?  They'll need to be entertained.

• Strong muscles? Help may be needed moving people and obstructions.

• Have tools that can be used to move obstructions and clear fallen trees such as saws, car jacks, crowbars, et cetera.

• Just want to help? Extra hands welcome! 

What CERT can not do

CERT team members are volunteers, not professional responders. Some general limitations: 

• Provide food/ meals. CERT supplies do not include food.

• Provide babysitting/ childcare.

• Provide or administer medications. First Aid is limited to bandages, splints, and the like.

• Enter private property without permission.

In an actual emergency, our SFA CERT volunteers will need help and time to cover the entire neighborhood. We appreciate everything you can do to be prepared in advance of an emergency, and to help your family and your neighborhood if an emergency occurs. Connect with us if you want to learn more and be more prepared!