In part 1 of our community emergency preparedness guide, we showed you how to form a community disaster preparedness group as well as how to build a neighborhood emergency contact list. In our next installment, we will lay out other helpful suggestions to build your community around emergency preparedness and get people involved. Here, we will discuss how to assign roles to the individuals in your disaster readiness team, as well as offer other suggestions to increase the chances of everyone’s safety in the event of a natural disaster or other emergencies.

Assign Roles to Your Preparedness Group

As is the case with any profession, people are more organized and achieve better success when individual roles are assigned. Before you can reach out to other members of your community and invite them to join your group, it’s a must that you know what you’ll be asking them to do. Here are just a few ideas of important roles for your emergency community group.

• Communications Manager. This person will be in charge of taking meeting minutes, staying in touch with national organizations like the Red Cross, and reaching out - perhaps on social media, about upcoming meetings.
• Evacuation Planner. This person will be in charge of developing a community evacuation plan and conveying it to the neighborhood.
• Food and Water Supplies Storage Manager. This person should hopefully have a basic understanding of long-term food and water supply storage - even getting everyone stocked up for a month or two is a great start.
• Medical Emergency Responder. Ideally, the person in this role would be a medical professional. They can also contribute to the group by managing emergency medical supplies.
• Fundraiser. If your group plans on holding fundraising events and pooling resources together to help the less fortunate, a good treasurer helps in this role.
• Maintenance/ Mechanic. Having a basic understanding of maintenance skills and being mechanically inclined are highly useful skills in normal times. But individuals who are mechanics or maintenance personnel are worth their weight in gold in the event of a natural disaster or another emergency.

Volunteer in Other Emergency Groups and Get Certified

It’s a great idea to become a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to help give you basic emergency survival skills you can offer the community. The organization Citizen Corps oversees the CERT membership, which over half a million Americans are already involved in. It also is helpful to obtain First AID and CPR certifications, although these classes may be different or perhaps even nonexistent now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Building Communities: Stronger Together

Surviving an emergency is a daunting task, especially if you have to go it alone or have young children to look after. But with the help from neighbors and friends, you can ensure everyone stays safe and healthy. If you’re looking for a thoughtful holiday gift idea for those you discuss emergency preparedness with, More Prepared has you covered. Check out all of our high-quality emergency survival kits, food storage products, and more.