(As of Fall 2008, the Help Coordination function is still in development. Please contact us if you are interested in assisting us in this critical area.)
During a fire or other emergency many individuals offer to help. Very often, because preplanning has not occurred for this process, there are people who need help and people willing to help but no mechanism for putting the right people together. On the expectation that only a part of BMFPD would be under evacuation orders during a fire or other emergency, much of the help could be provided within our District. For example, we will need to find people who are willing to shelter evacuated people and/or animals (see above).
Another area of help could be in the form of willingness to perform tasks on behalf of firefighters or other residents. For example, a firefighter may have agreed to pick up a child at school but can’t call alternative authorized and pre-approved folks and obviously can’t pick up the child. A Help Volunteer could contact back-up authorized personnel to arrange pick-up. Another example: when fighting fires in the mountains, cell phones often do not function. If a firefighter could get a written message to the staging area, a Help Volunteer could make phone calls relaying information for the firefighter.
Prior to an emergency the Help Coordination group needs to:
- Collect information from residents as to their potential willingness to provide assistance, and what kind of assistance, in the event of an emergency
- Recruit volunteers and establish a phone tree for rapid communication during an emergency
- Develop procedures for how the Help Volunteers would function and communicate during an emergency, with attention to any coordination needed or desired with other agencies such as the Red Cross, the Animal Rescue group, etc.
During an emergency the Help Coordination group would:
- Manage Help Coordination Volunteers
- Communicate and coordinate with appropriate agencies
Help Coordination Volunteers would be active during an emergency, but would mostly be functioning at a distance from the location of the emergency so fire training and equipment would not be required.