CERT Rodeo 2026

The 19th Annual CERT Rodeo

Overview

The CERT Rodeo is a yearly event held by the Harris County Citizen Corps (HCCC) that invites CERT teams from across the Houston metropolitan area to practice and evaluate skills and team building important to CERT operations. Each CERT team completes stations designed to test for proficiency, efficacy and timeliness. These stations cover fire suppression, cribbing, HAZMAT, size-up, search and rescue, evidence ID, medical triage, medical transport and medical treatment. Proctors from each station grade teams on a 1/100 scale and give important feedback to help improve any future performance.

BayCERT

This year, BayCERT set forth with clear and ambitious goals aimed to implement new and effective procedures and to earn the highest amount of points for the 4th year in a row. With that in mind, we are proud to say that we have succeeded! This year we came in tied for 1st place at 798 out of 800 points. Thanks to our volunteers and their meticulous training and efforts we've reached first place for the 4th year in a row.

Each year we participate in the CERT Rodeo represents an invaluable opportunity for improvement. Since each station is graded it has allowed us to improve and streamline procedures that we as BayCERT use to teach the next generation of CERT members. Though this year's CERT Rodeo was impacted by the rainy weather, which led to the cancellation of 2 events. We were prepared to complete these events with a high degree of confidence thanks to our practice sessions. Those practice sessions directly led to the creation of a couple new techniques to improve cribbing and evidence ID. Not to mention improvements in efficacy for the rest of the events.

Time Line

"The early bird gets the worm"

Before we can even participate in the Rodeo, we need to set up camp for our base of operations. Meaning we needed to make the long drive to Humble, TX at the Harris Country Fire and Sheriff's Training Academy and be there by 6:30 AM. After arriving, we quickly set up our tent, equipment and finalized paperwork for the event coordinators. Once the set up was completed we got acquainted with our new teammates from other CERT groups. Steven from Galveston CERT as well as Alexia, Angela, Elizabeth and Joshua from Fort Bend CERT were our wonderful new teammates. As 8:00 AM came we assembled at the opening ceremony for a couple words from the HCCC as the 19th annual CERT Rodeo began.

As the ceremony came to a close we were assigned as team C with a set schedule and we were informed that cribbing and gangplank were cancelled due to the rain. Once we regrouped outside we headed over the search and rescue tower for our first station of the day. In search and rescue we are tasked to find victims in a building in a low visibility environment and report back our findings. The victims are represented by numbered tennis balls and a thick water vapor heavily obscures vision. With a team of eight people, we split up into four teams of two. One team comprises the team lead and scribe that stays behind as the rest of the pairs take on search the three story building. Once we start we only have 15 minutes to find and log the victims with our team lead and scribe.

After receiving our score for the station we headed back to our base for our next station. Once we assembled the team and gear we headed to the fire suppression station for our next score. In fire suppression we are tasked to split into pairs of teams and put out four fires with fire extinguishers. The whole team is composed of six people, the team lead, safety officer, and four fire fighters. The fire fighters then further split into teams of two so each team has a fire extinguisher and a person to pull them back.

After receiving our score for the station we headed back to our base for our next station. As we reported back we were told that the next station was medical transport for which we need eight people. In medical transport we need a team lead, scribe, and the rest split into medical leads and handlers. We are given a scenario where three victims require transport, each with different severity of injuries. It is our job to identify, package and transport from most to least critical victims in the best methods available within the time allotted.

Having completed the station and receiving our score we went back base and relayed our score and get the next station. The following station was evidence ID for which it was all hands on deck as we needed everyone to participate. In evidence ID we are tasked to gather at a field to find evidence and clearly mark it. The evidence are washers scattered across the field and to mark them we plant flags through each washer. For this event we had a team lead, scribe and searchers which line up across the field as the scribe stays behind to record the findings. At the end we report back how many washers found within the time limit.

Successfully finished with evidence ID we headed back to report our score and get our next assignment. Size up was the next event on the list as we headed there with the same team as we needed everybody. At the station we were assigned to size up a train wreck without getting too close and draw the scene with good relevant information. Which would include the general layout of the scene with any potential hazards or victims found in the area. The team lead and scribe divided the rest into search parties with their designated area to search.

After obtaining our score and reporting back to our base we took the whole team for our next event. HAZMAT was the next one up and the last event of the day that required the whole team to be there. In HAZMAT we are asked to find all chemical placards scattered around another field. However, unlike size up, we cannot move from our safe zone as chemicals in real life can be hazardous to be near. Once all codes are found we need to report to the scribe what we found including the numbers, the name, a guide book number and 3 potential hazards.

Once we completed the event and obtained our score, we gave our report to the base and got our last two events. The penultimate event was medical triage for which we needed six people on our team. For medical triage we are tasked to sort cards containing patient reports into the correct triage group. We only have five minutes to sort a number of cards correctly before having to flip over the cards for the second round. Keeping our training in mind we use the mental template of "30, 2, can do" to accurately triage each card in a timely manner.

As we obtained our second to last score of the day we reported back and gathered a couple more people for the final station of the day. Once all eight of us were ready we went to medical treatment for the final evaluation. For medical treatment we split into four teams of two and asked to treat six victims in an accurate and timely manner. Three of the four teams focus on treating the wounded as the final team consists of the team lead and the scribe to go around and document what each team does to their patients.

As we finished our last station and reconvened with our team we tallied the points before heading to the closing ceremony where the highest score would be announced. In the closing ceremony our score matched the highest score announced for the 19th annual CERT Rodeo. This means BayCERT has reached the highest score for the fourth year in a row.

We want to recognize and give a special thanks to all of the CERT members that participated along with BayCERT. As without them this victory would not have been possible and for that we are sincerely grateful.

BayCERT	Galveston CERT	Fort Bend CERT
Bernadette	Steven	Alexia
Caitlin		Angela
David P		Elizabeth
David R		Joshua
Diana
Diego
Linda
Maria
Richard

Special thanks to our videographer/photographer Shawn