The Department of Inner-City Emergency Response (IN-CERT) is the present day embodiment of the Volunteer Fire Fighters and Rescuers of Hook and Ladder #1 of the 1863 to 1880 era during the development of the Houston Volunteer Fire Department. These Freemen and slaves were some of the best fire fighters and rescuers in the area. It has been stated that the Hook and Ladder #1 threw themselves whole heartily into the work of saving and securing the residents of the City of Houston. They were dedicated to protecting life and property of all Houstonians regardless of race during the late 1800s.
In the spring of 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, the federal government began taking advantage of the temperate climate and newly opened Houston Ship Channel. The War Department (presently the Department Of Defense) ordered two military installations built in Harris County, Texas. They were Camp Logan and Ellington Field. Camp Logan was placed in the Freedmans Town Neighborhood (Second Ward, an all African-American part of Houston). The soldiers of Camp Logan were used to guard the construction site for Camp Logan and Ellington Field. The army ordered the Third Battalion of the Black Twenty-fourth United States Infantry (the Buffalo Soldiers) to be the primary guards for the military installation. In the Freedmans Town Neighborhood, just outside of Camp Logan the Houston Police Department (not fully intergraded) had a less than favorable rating in the community. So the soldiers were use to police the community and to provide law enforcement. This led to a community that felt empowered to provide protection for it. This form of community policing would later be used in several cities throughout the United States.
The second stage of community based rescue service came from the Harris County Emergency Corps Inc. (HCEC), which began in 1927. HCEC was a nationally recognized rescue team that was known for providing quality assistance to those in need. The 35-member volunteer team spent more than $800 a year ($6,300 in today’s dollars) in equipment out of their own pockets. The original Harris County Emergency Corps disbanded in the late 1990s. This gave rise to communities helping communities.
Communities Helping Communities was a group of nurses and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT’s) that took the concept of the HCEC and the Black Cross Nurses of the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and began to assist the community in receiving emergency care at no cost to the community. Communities Helping Communities disbanded in 2003. This gave rise to IN-CERT which was organized in 2004 and became operational in 2005 during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
IN-CERT uses the Community Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.) program as a base for its community training. The C.E.R.T. concept was originally developed and implemented by the Los Angeles Fire Department in 1985. This need was recognized following a series of earthquakes in both the U.S. and Mexico, which left hundreds dead, injured, and without emergency services. By 1993, thousands of residents had been trained in the United States and Canada. The C.E.R.T. program nationwide is supported and assisted by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmetsburg, Maryland.
Following September 11, 2001, FEMA developed a national training curriculum for local communities to train volunteers. In 2005, the IN-CERT adapted the national CERT curriculum to address and urban environment and created a program that incorporated existing teams and recruited new members with various experience in the first response community. IN-CERT then set a goal of having enough teams to cover the City. In 2008 IN-CERT became a Department offering several communities based resources and services to various neighborhoods throughout the greater Harris County Area. The Dept. of IN-CERT follows the Incident Command System (ICS) in accordance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS) in all areas and aspects of the department. ICS is a standardized, on-scene, all-hazard incident management concept developed in the United States. ICS is based upon a flexible, scalable response organization providing a common framework within which people can work together effectively.
All IN-CERT members undergo an initial 4 week, 8 class, 24 hour intensive training so they can prepare for and respond to disasters. Emergency services personnel are best equipped to respond to emergencies. However, following a catastrophic disaster, IN-CERT members can assist with initial emergency response and disaster situations. During non-emergency situations, IN-CERT members educate their communities about disaster preparedness, crime prevention, and emergency mitigation using Ready.gov materials and Ready Neighborhood curricula.
