Emergency Preparedness Week is May 5-11.
In recent years have you stood by wishing you could help those evacuated from their homes during the wildfires and devastating floods? Would you like to be able to help the family that lost everything when their house burned down? You can help by volunteering to become a trained Emergency Support Services responder.
Emergency Support Services (ESS) provides short-term essential support, such as shelter, food and clothing, to people who have been evacuated from their homes during emergencies or disasters. Responders register evacuees, complete needs assessments and provide basic emergency supports. ESS is a provincially funded program administered by local government. The Kaslo and Area D ESS team currently has 8 volunteer responders and needs more trained volunteers to efficiently support residents during evacuations.
Beginning in May, the mandatory training becomes a one-day introductory course that prepares new volunteers to register and support evacuees. The amount of training ESS volunteers wish to pursue is unlimited and self-paced. A full complement of courses is available, along with practice sessions at monthly meetings and regional training opportunities.
For more information and to volunteer, fill out the expression of interest application on the RDCK web page, Volunteer as an Emergency Support Services Responder, http://www.rdck.ca/joinESS.
Kaslo and Area D ESS