Early Response Teams

EARLY RESPONSE TEAM TRAINING

Read more: http://www.epaumc.org/resources/disasterresponse/early-response

ERT Training November 19, 2011

A date has been set for Early Response Team training on November 19, 2011 at Bethany UMC in Wescosville, outside of Allentown.  Training will run from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.  Cost of the training is $15 per person with lunch and a light breakfast provided courtesy of Bethany UMC.

Early Response Teams (ERTs) are the folks who go in right after the emergency phase of a disaster to muck out homes, tarp roofs, remove wet drywall and insulation and cut up downed trees to make homes safe, sanitary and secure.  No repairs are performed by these teams.  They often need to be totally self-sufficient, taking care of their own meals and transportation into and out of the affected area.  Training is mandatory in order to participate on one of these teams and reasonably good health is required.  Our goal is to eventually be able to deploy ERTs from each of the six districts in our conference, each with their own, fully equipped trailer. 

Bethany UMC is located at 1208 Brookside Road, Allentown, PA 18106.

Attendance will be limited to 30 people and a place can be held only after receipt of a check.  If you wish to attend, please notify Helen Newell at jihenew269@aol.com  or (610) 584-4057 .  Checks payable to “EPA-VIM” with the notation “ERT Training” may be sent to Helen at 954 Garfield Ave., Lansdale, PA 19446.

The mission of an Early Response Team is to provide a caring Christian presence in the aftermath of a disaster. These teams are neither first response groups of emergency workers nor recovery rebuild or repair teams; rather they fill a specific need in the early days after a disaster to establish the presence of the church.

While there are specific tasks assigned to early response teams, no task is more important than the people they serve. The teams are a cooperative effort between the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and United Methodist Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM). They are deployed through UMVIM and serve at the direction of the Disaster Response Committee of the conference in which the disaster occurred. The teams are trained primarily to respond within their own community but are prepared to travel away from home when invited in by the community experiencing the disaster. UMVIM and ERT teams never go anywhere without an invitation and all ERT members receive a minimum of 8 hours training prior to deployment. For further information, contact either the conference VIM Coordinator or the conference ERT Coordinator. Ben Botti, Volunteers In Mission Coordinator, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of The United Methodist Church, 127 Barndt Road, Sellersville, PA 18960; 215-723-8367; bbbotti@verizon.net Bob Simcox, ERT Coordinator for EPA Conference, 121 Redwood Drive, Douglassville, PA 19518; (610) 385-4791; simkim9788@aol.com. 

For more information on Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Disaster Response, go to http://www.epaumc.org/resources/disasterresponse.