Give survivors a bottle of water, and they drink for a day. Give them the tools to coordinate their own recovery and they can rebuild their lives and their community and be prepared for a future crisis.
While World Cares Center (WCC) emphasizes the importance of training it understands training alone is not enough. Volunteer responders must be able to practice their disaster management skills in a safe yet realistically simulated environment and cultivate the key relationships that will need to be actualized when disaster strikes.
In May 2018, WCC launched its newest program, the Ready Responders™ Boots on the Ground exercise (RRN BOG). The purpose was to engage community members who have taken WCC’s training to put their lessons learned to the test in a simulated disaster situation. While 2020 & 2021 events were done virtually using our Ready Responders Network (RRN-a Virtual Emergency Operations and Communication Center) we are back (LIVE!!) for 2022.
The first volunteer trainees included students from the City University of New York (CUNY) and the Latin American Chaplains Association, as well as observers from the NYPD and FEMA. Over the past 4 years, many others have joined us and have helped to make a difference in their own communities and across the globe. Regional Ready Rockaway, students from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Richmond County American Legion, Jersey City CERT, and some of your neighbors. The exercise offered training on flood response and recovery efforts and participants practiced skills in the following areas:
- Volunteer Reception Center Management
- Mucking, Gutting, and Mold Remediation
- Donning and doffing Personal Protective Equipment
- Emotional Resiliency
Here are a few of the groups we have had the pleasure of working with on the BOG-X since 2018:
Sponsors: Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Brooklyn Brewery, Con Edison, AECOM Tishman, GFP Real Estate, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, FDNY, NYPD, National Grid, Bank of America, FEMA, NYCOEM
Implementing Partners: Contingency Planning Exchange, First Person Xperience, Regional Ready Rockaway, Rutgers School of Public Health, the Metro New York Community Veteran’s Engagement Board, St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, National Industrial and Environmental Health Service, United War Veterans Council, Union Transforming Cyber, Richmond County American Legion, Jersey City CERT, Resilient JC, Home Depot, Team Red, White & Blue, The Mission Continues, Loeb & Loeb, National Service Corps, NYS Chaplain’s Task Force (NYSCTF)
Come out and learn something new that could make a difference in your home and your community. Learn to be Prepared for, Respond to and Recover from disasters and emergencies. The skills you learn and use here can make the difference Before, During & After an incident occurs. As the saying goes “Many hands make light work” really does apply and together we will get the job done, improving the overall safety and resiliency of the community.
Watch the following video to learn more about the training that takes place at an actual RRN BOG simulation.
Check back for the 2022 Registration link.
