BMP PRE CERT-ifi-NATES
Be MorePREpared As A Whole Community Trained VOLUNTEER
Be MorePREpared Prepared Response Enhancements (PRE)
Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
Nathan’s Awareness Training Essentials for Safety (NATES)
The ‘Second Disaster’: Making Well-Intentioned Donations Useful
One of the problems often created by a disaster or emergency within a community can be the immediate out pouring of donations. As strange as that may sound it is often referred to as the “Second Disaster” because there is no method to receive the donations at the disaster and emergency first responders are busy actually dealing with the disaster!
Therefore. a “Disaster Donation Management System” (DDMS) is required. In order to respond quickly and efficiently the DDMS needs to be operated by trained volunteers who live in or nearby the community where the disaster occurs. We call these individuals “Whole Community Trained Volunteers”.
What is a “Disaster Donation Management System?”
It is a proprietary intellectual-property model of BMP consisting of but not limited to the following services:
- Receipt of In-Kind Donations
- Logistics: Transportation & Warehouse
- Distribution of In-Kind Donations
- Fulfillment of VEPODs - Conversion of In-Kind Donations
- Documentation of Activation Response
What is a “Trained Volunteer?”
trained | trānd | adjective: having been taught a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time
vol·un·teer | ˌvälənˈtir | noun: a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task
What is a “Whole Community Trained Volunteer?”
A person who has elected to volunteer their time and energy to their community and who has received community emergency response related training in order to participate as a valuable asset to their community during an emergency or disaster.
Volunteer Emergency Command (VEC)
One-On-One Instruction / Virtual Meetings / Hands-On Sessions
First Responders form an Incident Command (IC) when Activated to Respond to an Emergency or Disaster.
We created VEC so that Trained Volunteers could be part of an IC and provide needed solutions and services that supported the IC and maximized available and combined resources of time, energy and dollars.
The Volunteer Emergency Command (VEC) oversees the various aspects of the Disaster Donation Management System (DDMS)
Volunteer Emergency Command Center (VECC)
A developed Office Area for Trained Volunteers
Volunteer Emergency Communications (VECOM)
A developed HAM Radio Communications Room for HAM Radio Operators
Volunteer Emergency PREparednessOnDemand – Point Of Distribution (VPOD)
Built on the FEMA IS-26 Commodity Points Of Distribution (CPOD) Disaster Response Program. Built on the FEMA IS-26 Commodity Points Of Distribution (CPOD) Disaster Response Program:
https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-26
The BMP VEPOD Network was developed as a local area extension of the FEMA C-POD Program
A VEPOD is a 20 foot Shipping Container (CONEX) that is re-purposed to serve as a local-area storage of PRE- Positioned and PRE-Paid Supplies
Currently, there are 10 completed VEPODs
All BMP VEPODs have been Eagle Scout Projects (ESP)
Definitions of Terms used
The WHITE CROSS Of Trained Volunteers
This our name for a Grass Roots movement of Volunteers to become Trained Volunteers in Whole Community Emergency & Disaster Response and Relief Services.
Be Prepared
Slogan of the Boy Scouts of America The Company
Be MorePREpared, Inc.
The company
Be MorePREpared
A Grass Roots Movement of Whole Community Trained Volunteers
You can never be Too Prepared
Eagle ScoutParents
A Grass Roots Movement of Eagle Scout Family Volunteers
Mom & Dad, Grandparents, Brothers & Sisters, Aunts & Uncles and Friends of an Eagle Scout
Eagle ScoutParents ESP
A Grass Roots Movement of Eagle Scout Family Volunteers
Mom & Dad, Grandparents, Brothers & Sisters, Aunts & Uncles and Friends of an Eagle Scout
ESP = Emergency Survival PREparedness ESP = Eagle Scout Project
ESP = Enhanced Scouting Participation
Who better than Eagle ScoutParents to Be MorePREpared following a Whole Community Emergency or Disaster?
COPE PREparedness
501c3 Non-Profit
To facilitate Receiving Tax-Deductible Donations of In-Kind Products and Cash
A Taste Of PREparedness
This was originally what we called our Disaster Food Service and is now the name of our website: https://atasteofpreparedness.com/ (The website you are viewing)
EMERGENCY / DISASTER – VOLUNTEERS
Part of the job in dealing with emergencies and disasters is also dealing with the people who want to volunteer their help. The first responders are all trained individuals and they know what what needs to be done and how to go about doing it. Volunteers are often untrained good intentioned people who want to help. In the Emergency / Disaster situations we have to categorize these volunteers into three categories:
- “Show Up” – These are folks who have no specific training but show up to offer any help they can.
- “Trained” – These people have received training in emergency / disaster situations.
- “Command” – These individuals have received emergency / disaster training and possess “big picture” knowledge of the situation in order to organize and lead other volunteers.
Using the example of the last article we wrote, “What does Be MorePREpared do?”, we can demonstrate how these categories of volunteers functioned.
TEAM Be MorePREpared was contacted by Council member Bob Blumenfield that an Evacuation Shelter was being set up at Taft High School due to Wildfires in Ventura County and Disaster Supplies were needed ASAP. Now in this situation the emergency / disaster that needed to be dealt with was not the fires themselves but rather what was called the “Second Disaster”… the handling of the massive response to a call for donations to support those arriving at the Evacuation Center as well as those involved with the fires.
There was a list of requested items to be donated but once the call went out people began showing up with all kinds of items. Logistics became a primary concern so TEAM Be MorePREpared took control by establishing command of the situation.
“Command” Volunteers determined that the immediate needs were:
- Traffic Control
- Donation Drop Off location
- Donation Pick Up location
- Donation Overflow location
“Trained” Volunteers that are part of the Be MorePREpared team organized the “Show Up” Volunteers to direct traffic, establish areas and traffic lanes for the three designations of donations as well as provide the physical labor required to organize and relocate the donations to the correct areas for distribution.
“Command” Volunteers from the local HAM radio team also were involved with their “Trained” Volunteer members in establishing a closed communication network within the area to facilitate communication between the various elements of the Be MorePREpared team.
In this scenario the Be MorePREpared team was able to avoid the “Second Disaster” of unmanaged random donations by organizing and utilizing trained and untrained volunteers to efficiently handle the helpful response from the local community.
Using another of our previous articles, “Managing Spontaneous Volunteers”, we can add another set of categories to the conversation… “Spontaneous Volunteers”. These volunteers fall into the category of “Show Up” Volunteers because they are not part of the expected personnel. However, the people may be trained or untrained.