In the United States, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) can refer to
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. This tends to include mountains with technical rope access issues, snow, avalanches, ice, crevasses, glaciers, alpine environments and high altitudes. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted in the development of a number of specific pieces of equipment and techniques. Helicopters are often used to quickly extract casualties, and search dogs may be deployed to find a casualty.
A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond to emergency calls for long periods of time, and are summoned to the fire station when their services are needed. They are also expected to attend other non-emergency duties as well.
A certified first responder is a person who has completed a course and received certification in providing pre-hospital care for medical emergencies. Certified individuals should have received much more instruction than someone who is trained in basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but they are not necessarily a substitute for more advanced emergency medical care rendered by emergency medical technicians and paramedics. First responders typically provide advanced first aid level care, CPR, and automated external defibrillator (AED) usage. The term "certified first responder" is not to be confused with "first responder", which is a generic term referring to the first medically trained responder to arrive on scene and medically trained telecommunication operators who provide pre-arrival medical instructions as trained Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMD). Many police officers and firefighters are required to receive training as certified first responders. Advanced medical care is typically provided by EMS, although some police officers and firefighters also train to become emergency medical technicians or paramedics.
His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is the section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the UK Maritime Search and Rescue Region. This includes the mobilisation, organisation and tasking of adequate resources to respond to persons either in distress at sea, or to persons at risk of injury or death on the cliffs or shoreline of the United Kingdom. Since 2015 it has also been responsible for land-based search and rescue helicopter operations.
VRA Rescue NSW (VRA) is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides rescue services to the communities across New South Wales. The first rescue squads formed the Volunteer Rescue Association with the assistance of the New South Wales Police Force. The service is now called VRA Rescue NSW. Groups with common charters can become an affiliate of the Association.
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 10,500 volunteers and 3,500 staff. At the heart of their work is providing help to people in crisis, both in the UK and overseas. The Red Cross is committed to helping people without discrimination, regardless of their ethnic origin, nationality, political beliefs or religion. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron of the society until her death in 2022, and was replaced by her successor King Charles III, who previously served as president between 2003 and 2024.
Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS) is a voluntary medical and health services provider in Hong Kong. Its mission is to supply effectively and efficiently regular services to maintain the health and well-being of people in Hong Kong.
The Disaster Preparedness and Response Team is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) established in Pakistan in November 2005 following the Pakistan Quake. However it was not registered as a voluntary agency until 2006. It is composed of civilian volunteers who give some of their time to train and in major emergencies act as volunteer disaster workers.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
St John Ambulance is a charitable non-governmental organisation dedicated to the teaching and practice of first aid and the support of the national emergency response system in England. Along with St John Ambulance Cymru, St John Ambulance Northern Ireland, and St John Scotland, it is one of the four United Kingdom affiliates of the international St John Ambulance movement.
Mountain rescue services in England and Wales operate under the association of Mountain Rescue England and Wales (MREW), formerly called Mountain Rescue Council of England & Wales. The association has a number of regional mountain rescue teams, each of which is an independent charity. The team members are highly trained volunteers who are called out by the police.
The New South Wales State Emergency Service, an agency of the Government of New South Wales, is an emergency and rescue service dedicated to assisting the community in times of natural and man-made disasters. The NSW SES is made up almost entirely of volunteer members, numbering over 10,919 as of September 2023. Members are easily identified by their distinctive orange overalls.
The Australian Aerial Patrol is an aerial observation and support service in New South Wales, Australia. It was formed in 1957 following a meeting convened by the City of Greater Wollongong Council, with a charter to maintain the safety and the welfare of the community through aerial observation and support. The Aerial Patrol is available to respond to emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue (BLSAR) is a registered charitable lowland search and rescue team based in Berkshire, United Kingdom and provides support functions (primarily search and rescue) to Thames Valley Police and the emergency planning departments of various local authorities in Berkshire. In common with most UK SAR teams, BLSAR members are all volunteers.
4x4 Response is a UK based charity whose volunteers offer the use of their 4x4 vehicles to provide logistic support in adverse conditions, working with other Voluntary Organisations and the blue-light emergency services. The Charity was set up to assist or facilitate 4x4 drivers that wanted to form a group in an area where there was no group currently in existence. The charity itself, while largely consisting of volunteers, in itself, is not a response group.
Surrey Search and Rescue (SurSAR) is a lowland search and rescue team based in Surrey, United Kingdom, who respond for missing person search, water rescue, drone imaging and other taskings at the request of Surrey Police and Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, as well as other statutory and government agencies. In common with most UKSAR teams, SurSAR's members are volunteers. The team has been a registered charity in England and Wales since October 2011.
Emergency Response Team Search and Rescue (ERTSAR) is an INSARAG listed international disaster response NGO search and rescue team, with bases in Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom and Toronto, Canada.
Many countries around the world have civil defense organizations dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks and providing rescue services after widespread disasters. In most countries, civil defense is a government-managed and often volunteer-staffed organization.
The Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps is one of the five emergency services maintained by the Isle of Man Government, to provide a range of emergency responses on the Isle of Man, an independent Crown dependency located in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland. The Corps operates under the Department of Home Affairs.
