Emergency Management Field Volunteer

Position Title: Emergency Management Field Volunteer

Department or Program Overview: The Columbia County Department of Emergency Management works to provide an effective county-wide emergency management program that prepares for whole community preparedness and builds resiliency in Columbia County.

Our focus is preparing for, mitigating against, responding to, and recovering from human-caused or natural disasters and emergencies.

Disaster preparedness helps to minimize loss of life, property damage, and resource scarcity resulting from major emergencies, disasters, or other complex incidents. Our aim is resilience, or the ability to recover from or adjust easily to emergencies.

The Department collaborates with local cities, special districts, community organizations, regional partners, and other public- and private-sector entities to promote disaster preparedness and improve incident response. Together, we identify hazards, develop emergency and mitigation plans, coordinate response activities, and train incident personnel.

Meeting Schedule and Location: General meetings are held monthly, and volunteers are required to attend at least six (6) general meetings a year. Training exercises are held at least four (4) times a year.

General Statement of Duties:

Following a declared disaster, Emergency Management Field Volunteers may be activated to:

• Perform light search and rescue in partially damaged buildings.
• Evaluate fires, assess firefighting resources and determine the safe course of action to extinguish small fires, and/or shut off natural gas supplies.
• Triage a disaster scene by performing a basic head to toe evaluation and basic first aid on victims (recognizing and controlling life-threatening conditions) and establish medical treatment areas.
• Assist fellow team members and victims of a disaster by utilizing information learned about the psychological impact of a disaster on rescuers and the victims.
• Be knowledgeable about safety precautions for "before and during" a disaster and will assist the community in being prepared for such a disaster by disseminating information to the public.
• Organize and deploy volunteer resources according to Columbia County organizational principles.

During non-emergent times, Emergency Management Field Volunteers may refer to the Office Volunteer General Statement of Duties.

Qualifications:

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Have a desire to assist the community.
• Have a commitment to continuing education.
• Agree to a criminal records check that may disqualify the potential volunteer.
• Attend all mandatory classes.
• Basic First Aid and CPR.
• Complete FEMA ISC 100, 700, 800 within the first year.

Position Reports To: The Director of Emergency Management or Field Coordinator

Expectations: Be reliable, act responsibly and with integrity, be accountable for your actions, carry out duties according to the position description, be committed to Columbia County and your tour of service, undertake training as required, ask for support when needed, be courteous to participants, staff, other volunteers and value and support other team members.

Serve the community as a trained volunteer in the event of a natural or man-made disaster where emergency first responders may be delayed or unable to respond to the scene; assist in traffic/crowd control during local non-emergency events such as parades, festivals, or sporting events; and promote emergency preparedness in the community.

As an Emergency Management Field Volunteer, you will be able to identify the scope of a problem, determine an overall strategy and deploy resources to help your neighbors until first responders can arrive on the scene. In addition, you will have the opportunity to support your community at non-emergent events and promote disaster preparedness within your community.

Additional Training: Volunteer Orientation training will be provided.

Benefits of Volunteering for this position: Columbia County understands volunteering allows citizens to give back to their community in meaningful ways and is a critical resource to the county. As an Emergency Management Field Volunteer, you will gain the experience and knowledge to prepare yourself, your family and your community to react following a disaster. In terms of emergency preparedness, disaster resilience allows individuals, communities, organizations, and jurisdictions to better recover from the effects of a disaster.