A Bit Of Background
In the United States the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) formally adopted a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program in 1997, but ten years earlier the first CERT program mobilized during the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987. A major disaster event in Southern California that the author of the enhanced community emergency response team (eCERT® Program) personally worked during his civil engineering internship for the City of Santa Fe Springs.
The fact is decades of historical disasters have demonstrated there are never enough resources to meet the demand. The eCERT® Program is an innovative approach to improving a federal program that was meant to bolster resiliency across the country. The eCERT® Program mission is straightforward, it recruits 1,000 memberships and supplies a citizen workforce with all the tools and infrastructure they need to safely be deployed after a disaster.
An Exclusive Membership
Forming an eCERT® Program Memberships is a streamlined process and a local agency-operated CERT program can reasonably transition into the program within 30 days. A newly formed membership is typically certified within 90 days, after organizing it into a non-governmental organization. Afterwards, the memberships are chauffeured through their first year by the committee and a program service center supplying equipment and supporting services.
They are organized into independent 501 (c)3 Non-Government Organizations (NGO) and supported by an eCERT® Program Oversight Committee populated with members from other memberships. The committee and a chain of support assure the memberships have all the tools to sustain their program.
For the memberships, the eCERT® Program harnesses the skill sets they already have and repurposes their interests for responding to disasters with the tools they’ll need in the field. Otherwise, the memberships are encouraged to develop additional enhancements supporting their mission.
eCERT® Program Directives
1,000 Membership Consortium
In 3 years, create the citizen workforce capable of being dispatched across the country, a dedicated infrastructure, and the support they deserve.
MAVIS Manufacturing
Provide the assembly lines capable of manufacturing a minimum of 25 MAVIS Units a month and meet the programs demands in 3 years.
$500 Million Worth of Assets
Create the added value directly contributing to a $40 billion industry in just 3 years, and without limitations.
Program Service Centre
Service the memberships with the administrative and operational tools they need for building a sustainable organization in 12 months
eCERT® Oversight Committee
Provide the tools the committee requires to review, authorize and coordinate program assets across the country.
Task Force and Strike Teams
Anticipate 5 memberships developing into one highly sought after resource for large disaster events.
Sustainability Above Sponsorship
Sustainability – “pertaining to a system that maintains its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse”
Sponsorship – “the position or function of a person or group who vouches for, supports, advises, or helps fund another person or an organization or project.”
The eCERT® Program’s success will contribute to creating sustainable programs. Whereas local agency-operated programs have limitations from a sponsor, the eCERT® Program was written with techniques for growth. With the same conviction, the program adopted a digital currency campaign into an investment vehicle for personal resiliency accounts. The extended services originated from a lack of access to hard currency during a disaster and the accounts are alternative to depleting savings, credit cards or retirements accounts after a disaster.
The eCERT® Program digital currency units are offered as digital shares and shareholders are guaranteed access to funds after a disaster. They provide the security of a mitigating insurance account with the benefit of earning a return from investing in their own well-being.
