Lamorinda CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) announced at its June meeting that longtime Program Manager Duncan Seibert, who has served in that position for 16 years, has moved to Program Manager Emeritus. The Emeritus position removes the administrative duties but retains some of the research, program development, water program, and other duties while allowing him to semi-retire.

    On Aug. 19 the Moraga-Orinda Fire District recognized Seibert’s service with a proclamation in his honor. The proclamation noted that Seibert became the Lamorinda CERT Program Manager in 2011 and has guided the program through years of remarkable growth and innovation. Under his leadership, Lamorinda CERT has become a model of excellence recognized throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, with neighboring CERT programs looking to Lamorinda as the standard for effective training, volunteer engagement, and community preparedness.

    In addition, the proclamation noted that during his tenure, Lamorinda CERT achieved extraordinary milestones, including conducting 38 Basic Training class series, graduating over 1,000 CERT volunteers, fulfilling almost 5,000 emergency water drum orders, hosting 146 monthly preparedness presentations, and participating in 15 Lafayette Art & Wine Festivals, while also supporting countless community events, emergency preparedness fairs, disaster exercises, drills, neighborhood presentations, traffic control assignments, Stop the Bleed classes, MOFD Open Houses, and outreach opportunities that strengthened the resilience of the Lamorinda communities.

    Seibert generously shared his expertise beyond Lamorinda by reviewing, updating, and improving CERT training materials used by programs throughout the Bay Area, ensuring that emergency preparedness education remains current, practical, and effective for thousands of volunteers.

    MOFD concluded that Seibert's influence is measured not only by statistics but by the confidence he instilled in volunteers, the instructors he mentored, the leaders he developed, and the countless lives made safer through a stronger, more capable CERT program.

    Additional personnel changes at CERT include Todd Combellick who was upgrading from Deputy Program Manager to become the new Program Manager, taking over the administrative duties and more from Seibert. Combellick is an EMT currently working for a local ambulance company. According to Lamorinda CERT, though a recent CERT graduate, Combellick has already been a great asset to the team and has been a very active Assistant Instructor. He is finishing his Instructor Train-the-Trainer course and recently finished his Program Manager course. CERT welcomed Combellick to the team, to the Steering Committee, and to the Lamorinda CERT Foundation board of directors.

    In addition, Daniel Lin has moved into the Deputy Program Manager position. Lin is an Occupational Therapist at Regional Center of the East Bay. Seibert, Combellick and Lin will all continue to teach CERT classes.