Lee County Volunteer Corps

Live In Lee County or have authorization

Valid Driver’s license

Proof of car insurance

18 years old and older

High School graduate or have GED

Agree to a background check

Sign application and EMA/EDSA oath

Leadership

Each team will be designated a leader who will be in charge of setting up meetings for that individual group. The leaders of each team will report to the director and deputy director to inform them of any changes or classes. During the meetings with the entire LCVC, leaders will be asked to share what they have been doing in their group/ team. We would love for our volunteers to get further involved. If you have the skills or abilities to make a good leader let us know. When filling out your application just list what teams/ groups you have an interest in leading.

Team/ Group Selection

We also ask, once you have joined, to let us know what teams you are interested in. Please feel free to select more than one team. We encourage our members to find a team/ group that suits them.

Medical Distribution Team: This team’s mission is to enhance public health and emergency response efforts by coordinating and training medical and non-medical volunteers to assist the community and emergency response partners in the event of a public health emergency.

Volunteers will be needed for many different things during the medical distribution process. Volunteers will be needed to assist with security, form distribution, form review, greeting, and inventory tracking. Volunteers will also be used for the nursing services as long as they are certified and previously approved. Another area volunteers will be needed will be with inventory tracking.

Administrative Group: This group would assist the agency in an office-like setting. They may be tasked with copying or filing documents, answering an event specific bank of phone calls, placing phone calls in support of a specific mission, assisting with information dissemination during EOC activations (running copies, using the fax machine, etc.), using the EMnet computer to transmit messages, assigning and tracking equipment, and any other function deemed necessary by the Lee County Volunteer Corps. Director/Deputy Director.

Community Outreach Group: This group will assist by attending informational booths at health and safety fairs, community events, and any other functions deemed necessary by the Lee County Volunteer Corps.  Lee County Volunteer Corps. Director/Deputy Director.

Damage Assessment Group: This group will assist the Lee County EMA office by conducting the necessary FEMA approved damage assessment in a post disaster event.

Why do we need to effectively collect/document damage information following a recent event?

Expense reimbursement,

Prioritize placement of limited resources,

Identify resource shortfalls/gaps,

Identify impact on the community,

Identify mass care needs (food, water, shelter, clothing, medical…)

The collection/documentation of damage information must be standardized.  This will ensure that the information has the same meaning to both the people who are collecting and the people who are analyzing it.

Logistics Group: This group will assist the Lee County Volunteer Corps by making sure equipment is ready for emergency deployment. They may also be tasked with inventory control, small engine maintenance, updating computer software and any other function deemed necessary by the Lee County Volunteer Corps. Director/Deputy Director.

Sheltering Group: This group will be tasked with assisting the Red Cross in opening temporary shelters and/or assisting the Lee County Animal Response Team in opening up a temporary animal shelter. Assistance with the Red Cross shelter will be limited to initial set-up and demobilization. Lee County EMA volunteers will not man the shelter. Assistance with the LeCART shelter may include any operational procedures outlined in the LeCART Shelter Manual.

Ground Search & Rescue Team: This team assists local, county and state emergency service agencies with a specialized capability of ground search and rescue. At any time of the day or night, crimes can be committed or people can become lost or missing. This team provides trained volunteers to augment the emergency services to assist in the search for missing persons or items of evidentiary value.

Todd Atwell is in charge of ground search and rescue and will be coordinating the trainings and locations. We will keep you informed of the training days in our newsletter. If you have any questions specifically for him, his email is listed under resources.

Instruction Group: This group will assist by becoming an instructor for the various special interest teams, such as the local’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the Ground Search and Rescue Team (GSAR), or instructing the various National Incident Management System (NIMS) classes. These individuals will instruct interested parties in a variety of venues both on and off county property.

Severe Weather Spotting: this group is in charge of looking out for dangerous weather conditions and reporting them. Advanced warning depends on accurate, timely reports from a team of trained Severe Weather spotters.

It is only a matter of when, not if, a major tornado will strike your area. Radar has limitations. Spotters are the only method of getting the ground truth. Spotter reports are used in warnings and statements; they give more credence to warnings. Spotter reports confirm radar-based warnings, which help NWS forecasters use radar more effectively. Don’t assume the NSW already knows what’s happening you should report it anyway. This group will show you the fundamental skills and show you what to look out for.

LeCART: Animal Response Team (Future development): Membership to this team requires a sponsorship from a current member of the team. The intent of this team is to provide a means of animal care and control to minimize the suffering in the event of an animal-related emergency (i.e., livestock trailer rollover, floods, citizen evacuations, etc.); whether the animal is owned, stray, domestic or wild. This includes animals that are incapable of being cared for by their owners or are a danger to themselves or the public. Actions which Lee Volunteer Corp LeCART may take include sheltering, control, feeding, immunizations, emergency veterinarian care and, if necessary, humane euthanasia.

Flood Response Team: This team would assist in sandbagging procedures and building levees to keep water from over flowing onto roads and into homes. Please watch the link for a better understanding of flood response. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj7aUwIHYlw

Policy and Procedures

New members will be given a policy and procedures manual that will assist you in knowing what is to be expected of our members. The manual will go into greater detail

Training

The courses required to complete upon joining are:

FEMA IS 100. b

FEMA IS 700. a

First Aid & CPR (recommended, but not required)

*Special Teams have additional requirements

Clean, neat look including hair

Team Specific dress codes

Stud earrings only (if any)

1 ring per hand

No visible necklaces

No bracelets

Watches are allowed

Only LCVC approved hats

MUST wear ID Badge

Perform duties in courteous manner

Treat members with fairness

Remember you represent the County, act accordingly

Members are responsible for maintaining copies of all documents

No LCVC member will give information to any media member

Only members with valid license will operate vehicles

No alcohol may be consumed while at LCVC incidents, activities, training sessions, etc.

No smoking while in public view when in LCVC attire

Termination of membership requires the return of ALL county issued equipment including badge. All disciplinary matters are to be handled by the Director or Deputy.

If you require a medical leave of absence please inform your team leader. If the medical leave was due to physical injury we do ask that you provide a written notice from your doctor so that you may return to active duty.

Resources

If you have additional questions please feel free to contact these people:

Kevin Lalley: Director, edsa@countyoflee.org

Stefanie Gardner: Deputy Director, sgardner@lchd.com

Todd Atwell: Lieutenant of the LCSD, tatwell@countyoflee.org