Friday Roundup – Young volunteers, Springfield and National Preparedness Month

Good Friday, I am pleased to bring you up to date on this weeks happenings in emergency preparedness.   A few things caught my eye this week that I think should be shared.  The first article is on trying to encourage and bring in younger people to emergency response.  The second is another drill that allowed a city to focus on bringing it to the people and finally, a bit of information

What a great headline: Wanted: Younger Volunteers for Emergency Response Teams.  “CERT is an all age, all ability program, so that’s just fine. Age is not a barrier to volunteering or taking the training. The age of CERT members tends to follow the demographics of the community.”  Kate Hale, Director of Emergency Services for James City County.  CERT stands for “Community Emergency Response Team.”  The call for younger people to volunteer only makes sense as they are often the ones who have young families or are connected in with a mobile, energetic and enthusiastic age demographic.

The City of Springfield received high kudos for their emergency response preparations after a mock drill flattened half of their city. “I think Springfield is one of the most, if not the most, prepared communities I have ever worked with in a capacity such as this, in a training capacity,” said Meghan Van Aken, a FEMA trainer featured in one video. “They really blew us away . . . They were spot on with everything they did.”  Still, after garnering praise from FEMA officials the call still goes out for residents to take a more active role in their own personal preparations.   The article has numerous video links from those involved and is worth a look or two or three!

Our final article sheds light on the National Emergency Preparedness Week.  This from the CDC website: Be Ready! September is National Preparedness Month  More than 3,000 organizations – national, regional, and local public and private organizations – are supporting emergency preparedness efforts and encouraging all Americans to take action.  Although this is a US initiative from Homeland Security, Canada will most assuredly be tuned in.

Have a great week and see you next Friday!

Be Prepared, Keep Calm and Carry On.