San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team Annual Disaster Exercise

The San Francisco Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) is a disaster preparedness and response organization sponsored by the San Francisco Fire Department (SFFD). It was started in 1989 as a result of the Loma Prieta Earthquake response. NERT is the ONLY organization in San Francisco offering free, hands-on emergency preparedness training to anyone who lives or works in the city. NERT also provides an organizing framework for neighborhood teams in San Francisco and after a disaster NERT teams survey their neighborhoods, provide information to the SFFD, conduct light search and rescue and medical triage, and help transport victims to medical facilities.

NERTs are registered with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services as Disaster Service Worker Volunteers, providing worker’s comp insurance for volunteers acting within the scope of their training during a response.

Each year close to the anniversary of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the San Francisco NERT volunteers attend a large-scale exercise and training session put on by the SFFD. Volunteers will work with PG&E experts on how to identify and mitigate natural gas and electrical hazards after an earthquake, learn basic search and rescue techniques and participate in medical evaluation and treatment.