Citizen Emergency Response Teams are locally-oranized programs managed through the emergency management agency and coordinated with the local fire, police and medical response units to augment and support initial public sector response. The advantage of CERT to the local community is that more citizens will know how to prepare for and what to do during a crises. CERT is an excellent, structured way for local businesses and organizations to provide volunteers and assets in a systematic way that conforms to the response standards that have been adopted nationally.

In many locales with small numbers of public-sector responders, a volunteer-staffed program provides the backbone and organization for areas that might be cut-off from public-sector resources during the initial hours of a crisis. CERT training and preparedness through local companies and organizations provides a level of community capability in these potential-risk areas that support a more robust overall community response.