CERT Equipment

Click on the + to open the information under that subject heading.

Required CERT Equipment

Keeping and maintaining your CERT equipment is your responsibility. The items below are required, especially for a drill.

cert-kit

  • CERT ID (required for call-outs)
  • Helmet (no baseball hats) (see information on helmets below)
  • Vest (see information for Vests below)
  • Dust Mask
  • Goggles
  • Rubber/latex Gloves
  • Leather Gloves
  • Sturdy Shoes (absolutely no open-toe shoes allowed)
  • Long Pants
  • Flashlight (with extra batteries)
  • Bottled Water
  • Non-perishable Food
  • Pen
  • Set of the CERT Forms
  • Code of Conduct

Additional Items-Recommended

  • Duct Tape
  • Caution Tape
  • Triage Tape
  • Crowbar
  • Gas/water Wrench
  • Ink Pens & Graphite Pencils
  • Lumber Crayons
  • Markers-Sharpies
  • Knife/scissors
  • Poncho
  • Carabiners
  • Whistle
  • First-aid Supplies
  • Hat
  • Multi-tool
  • Hardhat Headlamp
  • Cell Phone
  • Sun Block
  • Tri-fold cheat sheet
  • Antiseptic Hand Cleaner
  • Water Impermeable Notebooks
  • Ear Plugs
  • Extra Pair of Socks
REFLECTIVE TAPE
ON VESTS
STENCILED NAME
ON VEST
HELMET
OPTION

 

REFLECTIVE TAPE ON VESTS

CERT vest with reflective tape

We encourage CERT members to purchase one-inch lime-green reflective stripes for their vests to increase safety and visibility.

The stripes for the vest must be sewn on. Some drycleaners will do the sewing for under $10.00. A tailor may charge over $50.00.

Any number of places are able to do the sewing.

 

SOS Survival Products is familiar with our needs. For the tape, ask for product #22376A at SOS. The price is $1.95/foot minus your 10% CERT discount. You will need to purchase 12 feet of one-inch lime-green reflective stock.

SOS Survival Products
(818) 909-0131
(800) 479-7998
15705 Strathern St., #11
Van Nuys, CA 91406
www.sosproducts.com
Directions

For a custom made vest:
The Vest Guy
Vests, Chest Packs, Armband
All items are 100% customizable and made to order with your name, etc.
TheVestGuy.com

You can purchase your stripes from any source, but be sure that the stripes are one-inch lime-green reflective tape. (If you have any other sources for this reflective tape, let us know.)

Print out this page to show to the person who will do the sewing:

REFLECTIVE TAPE STANDARDS:

Reflective tape shall be one inch wide and lime green.

Reflective tape shall run one inch above the bottom of the vest across the back and front panels.

Reflective tape shall run one inch away from the outside of the shoulder seam, straight down the vest back to the bottom tape on each side. It shall not obstruct the view of the CERT logo on the back of the vest.

Reflective tape shall run one inch away from the outside of the shoulder seam, straight down the vest front to the bottom tape on each front panel.

[f

Front View

Front View

CERT Vest - Back View

CERT Vest – Back View

CERT Vest - Top View

CERT Vest – Top View

CERT Vest - patches2

Patches – adhere the CERT patch and any rockers to your vest on the left upper front panel.


STENCILED NAME ON VEST

Stencil your last name on the back of the vest, centered, with the bottom of the letters one inch above the lowest reflective stripe, using 3″ block letter stencils and a black felt-tip marker. (See the example in the back view picture above.)


 

TRAFFIC VESTS

The CERT vest shown above (with or without reflective stripes) shall not be used for traffic control at large incidents.


HELMET OPTION

If you’re looking for a stronger helmet, it must look like this:

alternate-helmet

It’s very important that CERT has a consistent look. Make sure your helmet resembles this one (except it must be GREEN).

No full-brim helmets.

No bicycle helmets.

No firefighter helmets.


Additional CERT Equipment & Clothing

After being in CERT for awhile, you may determine that you require additional equipment partially for your own comfort, and partially you need it to do a better job. Below is a list of possible equipment you might add. Also included are some clothing suppliers for pants, jackets & shirts you might find of value.

Equipment & Supplies

We will be adding to this list

additional_equipment

  • Cardboard Splints
  • Triangular Bandages
  • Gauze rolls
  • Trauma Pads
  • ABD 5×9 compresses
  • Gauze Sponges
  • First Aid Kit
  • Collapsible Traffic Cones
  • Flares
  • Clean Towels/Rags
  • CERT All-Weather Field Operating Guide
  • 2-Way Radios
  • Batteries for Radios
  • Blank Assessment Forms
  • Clip Board
  • Folding Shovel
  • Light Sticks
  • Rope (50′)
  • Emergency Mylar Blankets

CERT Clothing

addtional_equip_clothes

It is important that individual CERT members be prepared with their own supplies and equipment.

However, in times of extreme emergency which can affect a large area, it would be also helpful for each community to have their own plan and supplies. There are many ways to go about this, but here are just a few ideas. To make a community plan, one needs to involve the community or at least leaders in the community. An effective way to do this is to invite them to meetings to set up the community plan and give them reasons or incentives to participate.

Get ideas for preparing your neighborhood at the Neighborhood Preparedness page.

Supplies, tools and equipment might include a camper or mobile home to serve as the coordination center or command post for the neighborhood’s response effort; hammers, nails and plywood to cover broken windows; first aid kits and medical supplies for use in post-disaster first aid; crowbars, axes and other tools to assist in light search and rescue efforts; amateur or citizens band radios to assist in communications; and plastic bags to store trash or use as tarps.

Here are some examples of tools and equipment (Click to download the CERT Community Equipment List as PDF):

First Aid Bags Containing:
Ace bandages
1 adhesive tape
Antiseptic wipes in foil
1 bandage rolls
4 bandages
1 blanket
Finger splints
First aid guide
Cold packs
Hot packs
Iodine prep pads
1 masking tape
Sponge bandages
6 tags/ pencils
6 triangular bandages
Tweezers, forceps
Tags to indicate delayed, immediate, etc.
First Aid Station:
Blankets
Butterfly bandages
Cervical collar
Cots
Cotton balls
Cotton swabs
Digital battery thermometer
Disinfectant
Eye cups, solution and pads
Gauze pads – 4 x 4
Ground cloths – blue plastic+a62
Handiwipes
Hydrogen peroxide
Kleenex
Needles and thread
Pails
Paper towels
Rubber gloves
Rubbing alcohol
Safety pins
Saline solution
Sanitary napkins
Scissors
Splints
Soap – liquid
Space blankets
Stretchers – folding backboards with legs
Back board – solid
Basket stretcher
Scoop – body
Sun shade – 10′ x 10′
Tarps
Three oz. Paper cups
Toilet paper
Triangular bandages
Equipment:
Axes – firefighter’s
Bolt cutter – heavy duty
Brooms
Bulletin boards
Bungee cords
Caution tape
CERT & neighborhood skills lists
Chain saw
Chairs – folding
Chalk
Clips & rubber bands
Clip boards w/maps on back
Coleman lanterns/fuel/mantles
Cork bulletin board
Crowbars
Dry erase boards, markers/ erasers
Duct tape
Dust masks with filters
Extension cords – 100′
Fire extinguishers 2A:40B:C
Flashlights
Generator
Gloves – heavy duty
Grease pencils
Halogen lamps on stands
Hand pump
Helmets, vests & goggles
Light sticks - green - 12-hour
Marking pens
Masking tape
Masks
Office supplies
Pens and paper
Picks
Post-its
Radios - 8 handheld w/ members
Radio - portable w/ batteries
Report forms
Rope - yellow nylon & 40'
Scissors
Self-stick labels
Shims
Shovels
Steel pry bars
Sterno canned heat
Tables - legs fold
Tarps -
Thumbtacks
Traffic cones
Vests - different colors, labeled by job at Command Center .
Water - small boxes - 5 yr.
Wrenches
Water - 50 gallon/5 yr.
20 handheld Motorola radios/batteries
Portapotty/privacy curtain
(These suppliers are NOT endorsed by CERT or this website.)
We welcome your suggestions for other supplies and resources you have found helpful for your CERT kit!

Local Supplier
SOS Survival Products
www.sosproducts.com
15705 Strathern St. Unit 11
Van Nuys, California 91406
Toll free: 1-800-479-7998Fax: 1-818-909-0360
Email: sos-info@sosproducts.com
Local Supplier
More Prepared LLC
MorePrepared.com
Warehouse address:
4857 W. 147th Street
Suite C
Hawthorne, CA 90250
Phone: 310-676-3155
Fax: 310-676-3153
Email: info@moreprepared.com
American EHS, Inc.
www.first-aid-product.com
449 Santa Fe Dr. Suite 127
Encinitas, California 92024
Phone: 1-760-944-1048
Email: info@first-aid-product.com
Simpler Life Emergency Provisions
www.simplerlife.com/
2035 Park Avenue, Suite 1
Redlands, CA 92373
909-798-8108
FAX 909-798-8718
1-800-266-PREP (7737)

 

ProPac, Inc.
ProPak
5601 Rivers Avenue
Charleston, South Carolina 29406
Toll Free: 1-800-345-3036
Fax: 1-888-877-6722
Email: propac@propacusa.com
“It’s a Disaster”
This book provides quick reference with instructional bullets in 2-color format & suggests tips on what people should think about and do before, during and after specific types of scenarios, as well as how to administer basic first aid.
Rite in the Rain
All-Weather writing Paper and CERT guides.
Red Cross Store
www.redcrossstore.org

PrepareSmart, LLC
www.preparesmart.com
425-881-5354
E-mail: info@preparesmart.com

 

Safety Services, Inc.
Safety Services, Inc.
Phone: 800-632-2955
Fax: 800-851-7233
City Girl Prepper
www.citygirlprepper.com