Tag: recruit

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 9, 2018.

Yes, it’s fun to pull together survival kits for yourself and family members. For some of us, getting more and better survival gear turns out to be a sort of addiction! (A healthy addiction, we believe.) And creating family plans is satisfying, even though they require constant updating.

But once your immediate household is organized, what then?

When the emergency hits, are your neighbors going to be knocking on your door, looking for help?

They may. And you may not want or be able to help them.

The only way to solve this problem is to encourage neighbors and co-workers to be as prepared as you are!

We have devoted a lot of our time over the past 15 years to helping our neighbors get prepared, trained and organized.  If you’ve been reading our Advisories, you know about some of what we’ve done.

Now we’re adding one more piece to the puzzle.

Building a Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Team — getting more attention.

About 3 years ago, we started a whole new section on building a neighborhood group. Here’s how we started that section:

1. Step One was to pull together all our original material on team-building that we’ve created for Emergency Plan Guide readers. That list starts at the bottom of this post.
2. Step Two was to reach out to other organizations around the U.S. for their best ideas. In fact, many of our blog posts already link to others’ stories and skills, and we’ve added more and more.
3. Step Three was to solicit specific input for Emergency Plan Guide readers. We continue to do this, and you can help by referring us to people or sources you know, or by suggesting a topic you’d like to know more about. We’ll track down and share the best info we can find!

Let’s start with resources for those people who have already made the commitment to starting or building a neighborhood group.

We assume that as the leader, you will have found a way to get formal CERT training for yourself.  Not all members of your team may get training, but you need the framework and vocabulary of CERT so that your group can work effectively together and with local first responder teams.

So to start with Step One for building a neighborhood emergency preparedness team . . .

. . .here is a list of some original material from the Emergency Plan Guide collection. Most of this is ready for download as is, with the first couple of handbooks available for purchase.  We hope you’ll find what you need for YOUR group!

Comprehensive training manuals

• The Neighborhood Disaster Survival Series — our 4 books aimed at building groups in different kinds of neighborhoods. Each book is over 100 pages filled with specific steps and suggestions based on 15 years of growing our own group.  The books are at Amazon, in ebook (downloadable) or paperback.
• Meeting Ideas — A collection of meeting ideas, with a list of what you’ll need, how best to schedule the activities, what to watch out for, etc. $10 at Amazon. Get more details by clicking the link.

Stand-alone subjects for training or discussion

• UPDATED! How to Recruit Volunteers — We just updated this list. Download your copy now!
• How to Hold a Great Meeting — Event-planning basics that you’re probably familiar with, but that can help others on your team get up to speed. Since we started our own group, we’ve been able to provide a great overhead projection and sound system for our guest speakers.  That helps, as long as you have some skilled audio-visual people on hand!
• Finding Leaders — Every member of your team needs to be able to step up to lead. After all, when the emergency hits, you can’t be sure who will be on hand.
• Active Shooter Event — Worth a discussion, particularly given recent developments here and abroad.
• For more, just click on NEIGHBORHOOD in the category listing in the sidebar to the right.

Possible group investments

• Walkie-Talkies for Group Communications — We use our hand-held radios (walkie-talkies) every month and for many non-emergency events.
• Community Cache of Supplies — Read about our group’s decision in this regard.
• Financing Serious Emergency Equipment — These are items that take some real cash and consideration.

More to come! (Be sure to sign up to get our Advisories so you don’t miss anything!)

Virginia
Your Emergency Plan Guide Team

P.S. Step Two for Building a Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Team is to reach out to other organizations. Just last week you saw the results of some of our outreach when we wrote about the Lamorinda California CERT team’s upcoming meeting. Please share what YOUR group is doing!

It ain’t easy!

Our local CERT group is having another recruiting drive. It’s an ongoing effort, of course, since people come and go in the neighborhood.

This month we are having a real “recruiting meeting.” Here are some ideas that seem to work to get people there and give them a valuable experience.

Timing – Plan around a disaster.

Frankly, a newsworthy disaster can improve attendance at your meeting. Here in California we say, “Just give me a 3.7 earthquake and we’ll find some more CERT members.”

Even when you have to plan in advance, you will be able to find some recent disasters to feature as part of your recruiting material. (The United States Geological Survey maintains http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/. As I write this, it lists 198 earthquakes as having happened over the past seven days!)

Invite an “expert” speaker.

Yes, having trained and knowledgeable neighbors is appealing. But sometimes a recognized “expert” can be a better draw. We have had good success inviting the local Police Chief, Fire Chief, and particularly people who have actually participated in disaster recovery (in New Orleans, Fukushima, Christchurch) to be the featured speaker for the evening.

Give attendees something to do.

Emergency response is all about – response! It’s about being ready to take action, and not hesitating. We find that our meetings are more interesting and more successful if we have an activity that all people in the room can take part in, whether or not they are familiar with CERT. For example:

• Survey the crowd for their ideas of the threats the neighborhood is facing. Record those threats on an easel in the front of the room.
• Pass out maps of the neighborhood (or use an overhead projection). Have people identify where they live and work in relation to high-threat areas like a chemical plant, a railroad track, flood zone, or a high-pressure gas line.
• Have extra emergency radios available for people to hold and try out. Your team members can share with visitors. Go through a drill to replace the batteries, change channels, etc. It will result in pandemonium if not well managed, but people always enjoy it!
• Provide people with resources to take home: a sticker with emergency numbers, an abbreviated emergency supplies list, notice of an upcoming training.
• A raffle is fun if you can organize it.
• And, of course, refreshments are always appreciated. Set them up on a side table and give people a chance to mingle.

Invite people at least twice.

People need to be exposed to your marketing message more than once. (You’ve heard the classic “seven times before people buy” story.) We find that an invitation flyer (sent via email or actually printed and delivered to the doorstep) followed by a shorter reminder just the day before works pretty well. Best is if a neighbor actually says, “Let’s go together. I’ll pick you up.”

What’s the Call to Action?

At the end of the meeting, attendees need to be directed to “take the next step.” There is no fixed rule about what that next step should be; that will depend on your individual group. But a call to action is essential. Without it, you have just wasted your recruiting opportunity!

Joe and I have developed, and continue to develop, tools to make all these recruiting tasks easier and more efficient.  Best way to get them is to subscribe to our Advisories.

Virginia Nicols

Emergency Plan Guide