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La Verne CERT Program Community Emergency Response Team CERTTraining History of CERT The concept of CERT began in 1985 following a major earthquake in Mexico City in which over 100 untrained volunteers lost their lives trying to rescue their neighbors. As a result the Los Angeles Fire Department saw the need to train and prepare citizens to safely respond after a disaster. The idea spread to other departments across the country and Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA adopted the program as a national model for every community. Former President Bush endorsed CERT training as part of the Citizen Corps Program.