Hikermor, you're talking apples and oranges. Around here SAR are the first responders in wilderness areas, and are also used for urban search missions. They are well-trained and well-equipped. They pass criminal background checks. They have ongoing training as a requirement to continue doing SAR. Depending on the SAR unit, I believe most are credentialed. We can rely on SAR to do things like set up a helicopter landing zone, safely splint a broken leg, and they are trusted to evacuate the deceased with dignity. Whether CERT volunteers can do any of these is a matter of luck or occasional training, but CERT itself doesn't train or prepare its volunteers to perform such functions.

What you did in the water rescue example was done in exigent circumstances, a good call when going outside of protocol appeared necessary to save lives. Well done - I'm positive everyone was glad it worked out, especially the rescued.

In an earlier thread I expressed some surprise that civilians were actually assisting with a cribbing operation over fire hoses around a plane crash in MD. Pictures don't tell the whole story of anything, but laying blocks for a fire rig isn't a task that I would expect civilians to do, even under supervision. Hauling the blocks from the rig to the hoses sure. Definitely I wasn't there, so no way would I second guess the responders, they definitely had a quite active scene and lots bigger fish to fry. Nothing wrong per se, but it does tend to stand out.

First responders are right to be skeptical of CERT and similar training. As cautious as we may be, we make (more) mistakes in following protocols, and even in our own safety. I did that the other day when responding to a fire scene for the Red Cross, coming straight from a trip to Home Depot, I was wearing tennis shoes and not my boots that I put on when going out on every other fire call (and my spare pair wasn't in my vehicle, which is another story). I had to enter the structure to do a damage assessment / walk-thru - the fire fighter noticed my tennis shoes, and reminded me that they wore steel shanked boots to protect themselves, and in this particular fire I should probably go no further than a specific area. There's a first time for everything, and that was my first fire scene in unprotected tennis shoes. I felt like a piker. My co-responder was actually dressed in flip flops! Basically I was only one nail away from adding to the disaster rather than responding to it.