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Neighborhood Emergency Response Team reports growth, seeks tech and staffing support
Summary
NERD advisory board said more than 29,000 residents have taken NERD training, that 40 of 55 neighborhoods have coordinators, and asked the Fire Commission for help with technology, staffing and outreach to improve retention and reach an estimated 5% resident training goal.
Volunteers from the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERD) told the San Francisco Fire Commission on June 27 that the city‑run neighborhood training program has expanded but needs technology and staffing help to keep volunteers active.
Gary Pegueras, chair of the NERD advisory board, said the program has trained “over 29,000 residents” and reaches “over 11,000 members” through the Regroup communication system; he said 40 of 55 neighborhoods currently have coordinators and NERD added eight new coordinators this year. Pegueras outlined typical deployments and activities — earthquake preparedness, neighborhood command centers, light search and rescue, triage and two citywide drills in April and October.
Lulu Leversbach, an advisory board member, said NERD recently secured a Public Health Foundation partnership that allows local teams to accept donations through a 501(c)(3) partner and reported the program ran 17 full trainings this year and received supervisorial grants to support caches in Districts 7 and 10.
Both Pegueras and Leversbach emphasized retention and administrative capacity as core problems: although thousands have completed base training, many do not recertify and the program currently lacks an intake and tracking system to remind volunteers when to renew. They asked the commission to help with outreach and with connections to city PIO, technology resources and potential pro‑bono or discounted software tools.
Commissioners asked operational questions about what NERD volunteers do in an incident (neighborhood liaison, situation status reporting, light rescue and triage) and about coordination with the Police Department’s ALERT program and with other city agencies for drills and role‑specific recruitment. NERD gave an email (sffdnerds@sfgov.org) and phone number ((415) 970‑2022) for volunteers and said about five additional full training classes are scheduled for the rest of the year.
NERD officials said a study done with STIR identified a need to “close the leaky bucket” (recertification reminders, blended learning to reduce classroom time) and recommended a searchable intake system that records each volunteer’s completed sessions, roles and hours.
