.... My major point is that many professional groups do not PLAN for the use of untrained or less well trained personell and therefore do not use them or misuse them to their own detriment. In my mind there should be a plan to use all available resources, from semi professional (SAR, CAP, NG, etc.) to those with some training to those without any training. Disasters are, by definition, too big for the local first responders. Getting as many as possible trained to whatever level you can and preparing to use them is good planning.
Since CERT is a local project, normally run by a local professional group (often apparently the local FD), those first responders in an area should know what the level of training is and have a plan on how they will utilize those resources.
CERT is, as several pointed out, also very importantly about taking care of themselves and their neighbors until first responders get there.
I think Jerry has it right. While I haven't any direct experience with CERT, my understanding is that it is meant for extreme and extraordinary circumstances.
Most agencies do occaisional training for catastrophic events with mass casualties. For example here in Anchorage in June there will be a simulated airliner crash at the airport. This will give the Fire Dept and others the chance to practice responding to a big event, well beyond the usual. Good training, no doubt, but the assumption in this kind of drill is usually that the basic response system is intact. And that help could be summoned from off duty personel and from neighboring agencies.
However, there can be situations when our regular official trained agencies are overwhellmed. For example consider a M9 earthquake under LA, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, or Anchorage. Not only could damage be very widespread, but many of the official responders themselves might be casualties. Not all firehouses are built to withstand a major quake. In this case, the Fire Dept could be totally overwhelmed. Help from official sources could be many hours, or more likely days in coming.
In regards to Pete's and other's comments regarding CERT people not having comparable training to professional firefighters, or lacking OSHA/NFPA complient gear, the point is that in extreme circumstances people will respond anyway, to do what they can with what they have. In this case even minimal training is better than no training. And I think Jerry's point is well taken that agencies should give some thought and do some pre-planning as to how they might utilize those semi-trained CERT folks in extreme circumstances.
Like hikermor I have seen some instances of untrained people being successfully used in emergencies. Some years back we had a highly publicized search for two young boys. They had disapeared from their neighborhood which bordered on a large, very wild park area. This was during a period of serious cold weather with little or no snow. A major search was stood up using all of the available trained volunteer SAR people. As the search hit the news, large numbers of the general public came out to "help" search. This, of course complicated our efforts. Many of these people were rather poorly equipped for the conditions, were not "clue conscious", made it harder for the search dogs, etc etc. However, the point was that there was absolutely no practical way to stop them from going out. What we ended up doing was forming them into teams led by our trained folks. The team leaders gently but firmly weeded out those who were grossly unprepared. They impressed on people the importance of working as a team, and following the plan set by the IC. While it didn't work perfectly, and there were some inevitable problems, overall it went pretty good. None of the ad-hoc searchers became casualties themselves. (Sadly, the two boys were eventually found, under the ice, in a small pond very near their house.)
Since then, there have been a couple of major avalanche body recoveries where we have used large numbers of untrained public in probe lines. There has been some realization in the SAR comunity that we ought to do some training and pre-planning for using this kind of untrained resource. Unfortunately, up to this point this has been all talk. I'm hopefull that one of these days, we (official agencies and volunteer SAR teams) will take some concrete steps to better prepare for instances where we use untrained public to help, since these situations will surely occur again.
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