 Specially administered by the Department of Homeland Security, the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates the American public about disaster preparedness and sponsors training of basic emergency skills such as fire suppression, search and rescue (SAR), and handling mass casualties with triage and disaster first aid.The CERT program emphasizes working in conjunction with professional responders and community organizations to assist in emergency and event management.CERT programs are typically sponsored by local or county offices of Emergency Management.