DISASTER PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM
SRIV has a formed a Disaster Preparedness Team to support the efforts of our community Emergency Responders.
SRIV began to partner with our EMAS in 2002. Originally SRIV’s service was needed to build a RI Red Cross team. Between 2002 and 2003 SRIV’s then Executive Director, Deb Tanner work with the then Emergency Services Director for RI Red Cross, Nick Logothets. Together they built a team of just over 400 volunteers in that time to support Red Cross and EMA efforts across the communities of Washington County and Jamestown, RI. The team served at a number of shelter operations for blizzards, hurricanes, and other community emergency events. The team also was called upon to serve at Quonset for the Rhode Island Responds to Hurricane Katrina evacuation efforts out of New Orleans. There was historic flooding in March 2010 when the team was called into action to deliver necessary supplies to large areas of Westerly cut off as a result of the floods. Additionally the team worked at PODs — points of distribution for medical water and food delivery assisting emergency managers in real time. SRIV’s team never self-deploys, our team is called into action by local emergency management only.
SRIV provides training for our team volunteers, at times partnering with local EMA and other experts to provide meaningful topics of training in this volunteer service opportunity. SRIV will offer a wide variety of training sessions and topics including some collaborative trainings where all Southern RI volunteers are invited to attend training sessions throughout the year. SRIV trainings are open to all SRIV registered volunteers, not only Disaster Team volunteers. These trainings are meant to help all of us be as best prepared as we can if and when disaster strikes, no matter the cause. We invite you to join us.
SRIV was proud to introduce our first Youth focused trainings in 2017. The project training high school students between the ages of 14 and 19 years of age in shelter operations, point of distribution operation, home disaster preparedness, CPR and first aid, and light search & rescue. SRIV looks forward to continuing to invite our youth to join our Disaster Preparedness Team as the team grows and trains over the years. Students who complete the trainings are offered and opportunity to join the SRIV team. Registration as a volunteer is required.
Training is offered during evening and day hours. Trainers are provided through multiple resources and are experts and/or training professionals or licensed to provide trainings as applicable.
Helpful Tip! Check out this Emergency Preparedness Guide, provided by safehome.org to be even more prepared.
