Not Your Typical CERT Team (Thank goodness!)

From what I can tell from reading public comments and reactions on Bossier Parish’s (Louisiana) newest emergency protection plan, the next step for the parish officials may be to secede and form their own perfect union.

Introducing “Operation Exodus” on February 20th, the official press release alludes to the inclusion of citizen volunteers helping law enforcement personnel in times of the worst possible disaster. Community assistance is a recognized role for citizen volunteers trained by emergency services to provide support to victims of floods, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes and other potential disruptions on normal services. But this is not your typical Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) operation. In a newspaper article and video, the county law enforcement agency appears to be ready to arm volunteers willing to form a militia to fend off “Islamic extremists.”

Our country depends on volunteers to perform many functions in times of need, whether by a large group or an individual – from disaster relief to burn care to fire fighting and much, much more. And the CERT model is an excellent application (and illustration) of the dedication that Americans have for each other. But this is carrying the model way outside the boundaries of reason. Not only is this a dangerous program in the planning (if carried out as indicted by the available information), it is a misuse of the volunteer spirit that continues to serve our country and is an opportunity to create its own disaster in the execution.

Let’s use the great models that we already have for supplementing needed resources and avoid getting too carried away in empowering people beyond their capabilities.