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Pend Oreille County’s Community Emergency Response Team is entering a new phase of growth — one focused on free public training, neighborhood preparedness and coordinated support for local emergency services when they are most needed.
While CERT training has been offered locally over the past two years, program leaders say recent developments have brought the organization to a turning point.
“At its core, CERT is about awareness,” said Jennifer Ekizian, secretary of Pend Oreille County CERT. “What our function is, how we fit into the bigger emergency response picture and how people in the community can be involved in ways that make sense for them.”
A Community-Based Program With Local Roots
CERT — short for Community Emergency Response Team — was developed nationally in the late 1990s after major earthquakes in California, when it became clear that neighbors are often the first to help one another before professional responders can arrive.
While CERT operates under a framework developed by FEMA, Pend Oreille County leaders say that the program is community-driven and locally tailored.
“CERT isn’t as ‘FEMA’ as it sounds,” Ekizian said. “FEMA developed the framework, but the program itself is meant to be shaped by the needs of the community. What works in a large urban area doesn’t necessarily work in a rural county like ours.”
Leaders also emphasized that CERT is not a rigid, top-down program.
“FEMA’s not going to come down here and audit us,” said Silas Carrol, president of CERT. “Their role was to develop the program. The work is local.”
Early groundwork for CERT in Pend Oreille County began in 2024, when community members — including Jim Jeffers — helped initiate conversations, organize interest and bring the concept forward. Current leadership credits those early efforts with keeping the idea alive during its formative stages and laying the foundation for the growth now underway. Jeffers has long emphasized CERT’s role not just in emergency readiness, but in strengthening neighbor-to-neighbor connection and community resilience.
Leadership, Structure and Accountability
Pend Oreille County CERT operates as a Washington state nonprofit organization, formed to support fundraising, training coordination and longterm continuity. The CERT team itself functions as a volunteer preparedness and response program that works in coordination with local emergency services.
The nonprofit board includes: Silas Carroll, president (elected October 29, 2025); Ernie Hood, treasurer and Jennifer Ekizian, secretary.
Corey Toombs is vice president and duty officer with South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue at the Sacheen Lake station.
“This isn’t a club,” Carroll said. “It’s a team. And it’s designed to support fire, EMS, law enforcement and emergency management — not replace them.” Carroll noted that preparedness is something he practices not only in leadership, but at home.
“My entire family is CERT-trained,” he said. “My kids have gone through the training too. Preparedness isn’t abstract for us — it’s something we live.”
He added that family- level preparedness reflects the broader philosophy behind CERT: skills learned at the individual level ripple outward, strengthening households, neighborhoods and ultimately the entire community.
The Human Side of CERT
For Carroll, preparedness is deeply personal. A longtime firefighter and emergency medical responder, he also raised three children in emergency service and preparedness environments.
“All three of my kids went through volunteer firefighter programs,” Carroll said. “Two became EMTs. My daughter is pursuing nursing with the goal of becoming a flight medic.”
Carroll credits scouting and emergency service with shaping their values.
“Preparedness, service, taking care of your neighbors — that stays with you for life,” he said.
Ekizian said that same sense of purpose is what keeps volunteers engaged.
“People want to feel useful,” she said. “They want to contribute to something meaningful — not just during disasters, but during ‘blue-sky’ times too.”
That personal commitment now operates within a formal county framework.
Partnership with the Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Management
A major milestone occurred on Nov. 19, when Pend Oreille County CERT was formally backed by the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office. Under this arrangement, CERT operates as a support function aligned with Search and Rescue and County Emergency Management, without financial funding from the Sheriff’s Office.
“That backing is critical,” Carroll explained. “It allows CERT volunteers to deploy under official mission numbers, which is how liability, accountability and safety are handled within Washington’s emergency response system.”
Ekizian noted that while training had taken place prior to this backing, formal coordination and deployment capability are still new.
“The concept has been around here for a couple of years,” she said, “but the coordinated program backed by the Sheriff’s Office is what’s really beginning to take shape now.”
Leaders described this relationship as a practical fit within county operations. CERT functions alongside other volunteer programs rather than competing with them, and volunteers may cross-train with Search and Rescue or Amateur Radio Emergency Services if they choose.
Where CERT fits when things get complicated
When emergencies happen, responsibilities overlap. Fire, EMS, law enforcement, emergency management and volunteer groups all have defined roles — but real life rarely fits clean lines.
Hood described this using a simple image: overlapping circles.
“In a disaster, there’s overlap,” he said. “CERT lives in that overlap.”
That overlap might include helping manage shelters, assisting with evacuations, supporting logistics or checking on neighbors when professional responders are fully engaged elsewhere.
Ekizian pointed to examples observed through neighboring counties, including shelter support with the Red Cross, evacuation assistance and large animal shelter coordination — tasks that matter deeply in rural communities but often fall outside high-risk response priorities.
Hood recalled a regional training exercise held May 3 in Bonner County, where CERT volunteers practiced exactly these kinds of tasks: coordinating shelter logistics, supporting animal evacuation and helping stabilize community operations during a simulated large-scale emergency.
What CERT does — and what it doesn’t
CERT is designed to address low-risk, high-impact needs.
“When a major incident happens, fire, EMS and law enforcement are going to be stretched thin handling the highest-risk situations,” Carroll said. “CERT teams step in at the neighborhood level — checking on people, doing basic triage, helping with light search and rescue and stabilizing situations until more resources arrive.”
Just as important, leaders say, is what happens before emergencies.
“Preparedness reduces suffering,” Carroll said. “If people can take care of themselves and their neighbors, it takes pressure off an already limited emergency response system.”
Free training — for everyone
One of the defining features of CERT is that training is free and open to the public, with no obligation to join the team.
The basic CERT course is a 24-hour class, typically taught over two and a half days, covering: basic first aid and medical triage; patient movement and transport; light search and rescue; disaster psychology; fire suppression using ABC extinguishers and cribbing and shoring.
The Incident Command System used nationwide
“We call it a ‘catch and release’ model,” Carroll said. “We might train 20 people. Five become active CERT members. The rest take those skills back to their families, workplaces, churches and neighborhoods — and that still strengthens the community.”
Ekizian added that this model works especially well in rural areas, where neighbors may not interact often day-to-day but may rely heavily on one another during emergencies.
For more information about Pend Oreille County CERT, including training opportunities and meeting updates, community members can visit POCERT.org.
What this looks like in real life
CERT training is already being adapted for real-world settings.
Leaders described examples such as school-based preparedness activities, where students learn age-appropriate safety skills like stop-the-bleed basics and fire extinguisher awareness. In settings like Camp Reed and Odyssey Schools, handson demonstrations help normalize preparedness without fear, showing young people how to act rather than panic.
“These aren’t scare tactics,” Ekizian said. “They’re confidence builders.”
Between emergencies: staying ready without burning out
Much of CERT’s work happens during normal life — what emergency planners call “blue-sky time.”
That’s when training happens, relationships are built and volunteers practice skills so they’re ready if conditions change.
“Gray-sky” conditions — snowstorms, extended power outages, evacuations — are where preparation pays off. Leaders emphasized that CERT exists to bridge that gap, helping communities move through disruptions without becoming overwhelmed.
Volunteer retention matters during these quiet periods.
Carroll acknowledged that volunteer programs can struggle if momentum fades or bureaucracy slows progress.
“That’s why structure matters,” he said. “Clear roles, meaningful training and knowing where you fit.”
Training beyond the classroom
Between in-person courses, volunteers and community members are encouraged to take free online FEMA courses that reinforce preparedness concepts, incident command basics and situational awareness.
“These aren’t just for CERT,” Hood said. “They’re useful for anyone who wants to understand how emergencies are managed.”
Looking forward
When asked what success looks like a year from now, Hood answered simply.
“A community that’s more confident, more prepared, and more connected.”
Ekizian agreed.
“There’s a place here for everyone—whether you want to join, train, teach or simply be ready.”
In emergencies and in everyday life, CERT occupies the space where neighbors meet need — and where preparation becomes connection.
