Pennsylvania Volunteers

Train Together, Respond Together, Support Together

Who are the Pennsylvania Volunteers?

They are people who care about their families, their neighbors, and their community. They care about others. They are your neighbors, your coworkers, your fellow church goers, they are YOU.

 

They are trained to support first responders during emergencies, times of strife, or disasters.

 

Do I have to be a certain age or have special qualifications to participate?

Pennsylvania Volunteers welcomes and has a place for those of all ages 14 and up and all skill levels.

 

How do Pennsylvania Volunteers work with first responders and emergency personnel in my area?

Our goal is to form good working relationships with county Emergency Management agencies as well as other government officials and agencies (County Commissioners, Sheriff’s Offices, local police, fire and ambulance departments etc.) to form a cohesive county Citizens Corps Advisory Council.  These Councils will identify the training path as well as any needed special training.  These various trainings can then be given by the Pennsylvania Volunteers or one of our certified affiliate organizations, so that the local area volunteers might best be equipped to serve as support for all the counties first responder agencies.     


What is the difference between CERT and Citizens Corp teams?

CERT teams may be activated to respond to emergencies by Emergency Management, Emergency Responders, or VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) organizations. CERT Teams take a specialized training track so they can better assist these organizations in a supportive role.

 

Citizen Corps teams take basic community emergency response training that helps them in serving their local communities in activities such as Neighborhood Watch, Ministry In Action, Search & Rescue, Fire Corps, and Medical Reserve Corps.

 

What does the basic CERT training consist of?

Basic CERT training consists of disaster preparedness, fire suppression, disaster medical services, light search & rescue, disaster psychology, team organization, and disaster simulation.

Welcome to the Pennsylvania Volunteers website. The Pennsylvania Volunteers Inc., which is a charitable 501(c)(3) organization based in Butler County, PA, serves as the official sponsor of all Pennsylvania Volunteers Citizens Corp groups.


Pennsylvania Volunteers has a mission to coordinate and work in concert with all local, state and federal Emergency Management agencies as well as any other professional organization recognized by the National VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) .


Our goal is to establish, Commonwealth wide, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) programs as well as other assisting teams including; Neighborhood Watch Groups, Fire Corps, Medical Corps, Search and Rescue, and Ministry in Action. Our members receive training from nationally accredited sources and instructors.


As part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen Corp, our mission is to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.