Disaster Relief Officer

[tmurphy]

My squadron has been talking to me about taking on the currently vacant role of Disaster Relief Officer. From what I can gather, my responsibilities would include being a liaison between the squadron and several LEA, FDs, and other organizations that may need us in case of a disaster. It would also mean I'd have to have an inventory of who in my squadron is qualified to do what, and if they have to right gear to provide certain volunteer services.

Does anyone currently do this job for their squadron/wing/region? If so, do you have any tips on how to approach these agencies, what to propose to them? Also, what type of document agreements would I need, etc?

Thanks for your help.

[RADIOMAN015]

Before you do anything, check with your group or wing Disaster/ES Officer for some help.   Generally this type of assistance in disasters is handled at the wing level rather than squadron because a very specific agreement has to be crafted and approved.  Also as far as resources availability, you may find that the wing only wants to formally commit to aircraft type support.
Also for your specific duties see: http://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/R020_001.pdf  PAGE 29.
RM

[Eclipse]

I agree you need to coordinate efforts at the wing level, however specific interaction is designed for the unit.

No "special agreements" need to be crafted, you simply discuss your local capabilities, don't commit anything you don't have under your control, and give them the instructions for contacting the NOC, including the proper phraseology, etc.

[Persona non grata]

When I was the ES officer and serving in the DRO role as well, I networked with other agencies and attended some training courses on disaster relief.  I briefed folks in CAP on disaster prepardeness and such.  I even sat don a DP committee that had folks from the Red Cross, Salavation Army, HAM club, Catholic charities among many others.  As a new DRO I would start looking at some of the FEMA DR materials and citzens prepardness material that many states and counties put out and then in turn bring the awareness and training to the members of the unit.

[EMT-83]

Huh?

[RiverAux]

Depending on how many CAP units are near you (meaning how big your "area of operations" is), there are an endless number of agencies that it would probably be worthwhile to have meetings with to discuss how CAP could potentially be of help. 

The biggest thing you need to keep in mind is not to oversell the program.  Sure CAP could potentially bring a swarm of planes and ground teams in to help with a local situation, but be realistic about what could be provided and the timelines of when it might appear. 

Along those lines, be sure you have a good grasp of what your unit is really capable. of.  Look at your mission call out records and get a good grasp of how many people you are really likely to have available in an emergency.  For example , if you think you've only got a 50% chance of putting a ground team in the field at any given time, perhaps you should focus more on building up your capabilities rather than raising awareness with local agencies.   

[LTC Don]

There have been some very good responses so far, so I'll add my .02.

First, although the 20-1 has some job description stuff in it, it's pretty much useless.

Secondly, although there are some blurbs regarding diaster related items in CAPR 60-3, it's pretty much useless as well.

Thirdly, don't just go to your LEMA and say we can help.  First, ask them if there are any specific programs they could use manpower or other resources with.  Two programs to take a hard look at are: Points of Distribution (POD), and CERT.

Outside of Emergency Management, you can also look at starting a stormspotting or SkyWarn program in partnership with the NWS.

The bottom line is, at this point, the DR field is wide open since there is virtually no guidance from national regarding DR regulations or opportunities.

That said, I strongly urge reading and becoming intimately familiary with CAPR 60-3 so you know explicitly the sections/blurbs regarding disaster relief operations and trainng. Once you do that coming from a DR perspective, and not an aircraft SAR perspective, you will understand what I'm talking about.

Whatever programs you decide to embark upon as a DR guy, the CAP basic mission paradigms will still apply such as requiring members still achieve basic 101 card requirements.

I've been in the job as the Wing DR guy for about seven months now, and we are just getting the ball rolling on a bunch of different progams, and it's pretty exciting stuff that's re-juvenating our folks about Emergency Services again.  Of course, we are in Hurricane Alley so we have a vested interest in being active in DR.

Cheers,

[tmurphy]

Thank you all for the information so far. As of right now our squadron is in the process of training both cadets and seniors for GTM3 every other meeting. On the off week the seniors are being trained as Scanners. I know nothing will be done right off the bat before anyone is qualified, but I am a super detail oriented person and want to try to wrap my mind around things as soon as possible.

[davedove]

You really need to coordinate with your Wing.  Find out whatever agreements the Wing has with other agencies and what roles they have agreed to fill.  From that, you can focus your squadron's training and resources to better fit those requirements.

[tmurphy]

I just found out that the MIWG ESO is a vacant position currently. So my Commander is going to try and get my questions to the previous ESO, who is now in a different position. Can't say I'm really happy that there's no ESO in the wing...

[jeders]

I just found out that the MIWG ESO is a vacant position currently. So my Commander is going to try and get my questions to the previous ESO, who is now in a different position. Can't say I'm really happy that there's no ESO in the wing...

If there's no ESO, is there a Director of Operations? That would be the person to contact instead of the former ESO.

[tmurphy]

I actually don't have access to my wings staff list as there isn't one on their website. I asked my commander and he said there wasn't one. I will try to ask my commander for the email of the wings operations officer.