AV CERT TEAMS
AV CERT Organizational Structure
Antelope Valley CERT has established six geographic teams across the Antelope Valley within northern Los Angeles County.
The AV CERT Area Commander leads the organization and liaisons with local public safety partners to coordinate AV CERT activities and responses.
AV CERT Team Captains lead each of the six geographical teams. AV CERT Squad leaders are assigned team members. Team members are grouped based on the location of their home.
Antelope Valley CERT operates under an Incident Command System (ICS) structure. This allows AV CERT to expand or decrease its operating strength based upon event needs while fitting within the ICS structures of our public safety and non governmental organization partners.
How We Train
AV CERT actively trains using realistic full-scale exercises. A team of moulage experts add elements of realism to injured 'victims'. The hands-on experience of these scenarios are similar to disaster scenario training received by professional first-responders. Monthly meeting training includes seminars, workshops, tabletop exercises, games, drills, or functional exercises. Regular training allows AV CERT members to maintain valuable perishable skills.
AV CERT Volunteers - Heroes in Action
AV CERT ASSISTS WITH MASS COVID-19
COMMUNITY VACCINATION SITE
The City of Lancaster, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, called upon the volunteer strength of AV CERT to serve in several volunteer staffing roles at the mass COVID-19 community vaccination site which opened this week at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.
From Monday March 8th thru Friday March 12th, AV CERT coordinated the response of 15 AV CERT members to the vaccination site. These AV CERT members provided 185.5 volunteer hours to the site. This AV CERT volunteer time translates to an approximate payroll savings value of $5,046 to the City of Lancaster for on-site volunteer work performed. Additionally, AV CERT members provided several additional hours of off-site volunteer time to coordinate our response.
It was a pleasure to partner with the City of Lancaster and serve on the frontlines of this momentous community vaccination effort. We remain committed to serving the Antelope Valley by helping to increase the area's overall level of disaster readiness with our well-trained & equipped Community Emergency Response Team members.
Thank you City of Lancaster, CA and Kaiser Permanente for the opportunity to serve. We deeply appreciate the time and effort of our AV CERT members.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, AV CERT has been a partner to local government , local public safety agencies, and the community by assisting at COVID-19 test sites, COVID-19 vulnerable population food drives and home deliveries, recovery efforts at home sites and repopulation of homes in wildfire affected areas, and more. The hundreds of volunteer hours logged so far during this pandemic have been made possible by our dedicated AV CERT members who proudly answer the call to serve.
AV CERT ASSISTS WITH SEARCH FOR
CRITICAL MISSING CHILD
On March 8th, 2021, at approximately 1630 hrs, the Antelope Valley Community Emergency Response Team (AV CERT) was activated by detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lancaster Station (LASD Lancaster) to assist in the search of a critical missing child.
Within an hour of activation, AV CERT members Tim Chalfant, Wanda Deal, Terry Dean, Derrick Green, Mark Hagan, Larry Lewis, and Bridget Orr arrived on scene at the LASD Lancaster incident command post. AV CERT members were assigned to door-to-door canvass teams and later to systematic grid search teams.
During the grid search, AV CERT methodically searched from the critical missing child’s last known location point and expanded the search areas to two miles in each direction. At approximately 1815 hrs, a first responder search team reported they located the child found unharmed at a business about three miles from the child’s last known location point.
AV CERT appreciates the swift response of our volunteers and quick organization of AV CERT resources deployed to assist LASD Lancaster with the successful search and finding of the critical missing child. With the potential of exposure to severe environmental swings in the Antelope Valley, such as high/low temperature extremes and large areas of undeveloped and uninhabited desert surrounding our communities, it is crucial that critical missing persons be located quickly and safely.
It was an honor and a pleasure to partner with LASD Lancaster and assist the deputies with this important effort. We also appreciate the time and talents of our local deputies and community members that responded to the call. We are thankful for the opportunity to serve our community! We stand ready to answer the next call to serve.