Denton County CERT is an organization of citizen volunteers which reports to the Denton County Office of Emergency Management.  CERT members are trained in disaster preparedness, medical triage and treatments, light search and rescue, and other skills.  The team assists the community by providing disaster preparedness education to the public through safety fairs, assisting first responders in searching for missing persons, and can respond during a disaster to assist emergency services responders.  Emergency Services (Fire, EMS, Police) can be overwhelmed and their resources stretched in the immediate hours after a disaster.  CERT is trained to step in and assist (upon request) in the immediate hours after the disaster as well as collecting damage assessment information.