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HazardNow

Real-time situational awareness

CERT Situational Awareness Checklist for Public Alerts and Local Hazards

Support local CERT situational awareness safely within assignment boundaries and incident-command direction.

On this page

Quick summary

CERT role boundary

Personal/family safety first; follow local program direction; do not self-deploy outside assignment.

Checklist / workflow

1. Before activation

  • Personal/family safety
  • Team notification method
  • PPE/radio/phone
  • Assignment and reporting channel

2. During monitoring

  • Official instructions
  • Hazard changes
  • Access/egress
  • Smoke/AQI
  • Power/internet
  • Team accountability
Use the live dashboard as a public-signal scan, then verify any action item through official agency systems.

Check the live HazardNow dashboard

Use this page to understand CERT Situational Awareness Checklist for Public Alerts and Local Hazards. Use the live dashboard to see current alerts, infrastructure stress, weather, wildfire, travel, public-health, supply-chain, and stability indicators in one place. Focus on Alerts, Weather, Wildfire/AQI, Power, Travel in the live view.

Open Live DashboardSee what HazardNow tracks

Practical checklist

Team safety checks

  • Buddy system
  • Comms schedule
  • Heat/cold/smoke hydration plan
  • Stop-work triggers

Dashboard signals to compare

  • Alerts
  • Weather
  • Wildfire/AQI
  • Power
  • Travel
  • Public health

Official sources to verify

  • FEMA CERT — Role, scope, and support boundaries.
  • FEMA — Support official responders and local rules.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Self-deploying outside instructions
  • Speculating on causes/blame
  • Sharing private personal info

Related tools

Related guides

HazardNow is supplemental public situational awareness. It should not replace official emergency-management systems, dispatch channels, incident command instructions, or local public alerts.

Last reviewed: .