THE READY RESPONDERS BOOTS ON THE GROUND EXERCISE
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 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), engaging community members who have taken WCC’s training to put their lessons learned to the test in a simulated disaster situation.
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. 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
