In 1985 a group of Los Angeles fire officials traveled to Japan to learn how the Japanese responded to disastrous earthquakes. While there, the visitors discovered firsthand that community participants played a significant role in post-disaster support and response, because the deadly Kyoto Earthquake struck during their visit. Later that year, a separate trip was made to Mexico in the wake of the 8.1 Mexico City Earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people including 100 civilians who were trying to save others. LAFD officials observed that everyday people – neighbors and passersby – became first responders when the quake struck, often digging with their bare hands to help free trapped victims.

In 1986, the Los Angeles Fire Department created a pilot program to teach a core group of community members about basic fire suppression, first aid, search, and evacuation techniques (essentially the first CERT class). The first 30 people who completed the training demonstrated the effectiveness of the CERT concept. On October 1, 1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake the city saw evidence of how valuable the CERT program could be and stepped up to support it.

In 1993, CERT became part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offerings to communities nationwide. There are now CERT programs in all 50 states, including many tribal nations and U.S. territories. Each is unique to its community and all are essential to building a Culture of Preparedness in the United States. There are over 2,700 local CERT programs nationwide and more than 600,000 people have trained since CERT became a national program.