A new disaster response group is being formed in Lyon County to assist in disasters in the area.
Community organizations across the United States form Community Organizations Active in Disaster, COAD for short. The Lyon County COAD being formed is spearheaded by Liliana Heredia-Taylor, director of the Lyon County Chapter of the American Red Cross and Mike Dorcey, of 96.1 The Wave radio station.
“Emporia’s Healthier Community Alliance (HCA) explored the COAD concept and decided to sponsor its development here in Emporia,” said Bill Persinger, director of Mental Health of East Central Kansas, who also is president of the Healthier Community Alliance.
Persinger said the Healthier Community Alliance is a diverse group of people from the community including health care professionals, social service agencies, educational, faith-based community and some private businesses. The group finds ways to help out in the community. Among the activities the group has facilitated is the one-stop shop for Tyson workers when they were laid off more than a year ago.
The COAD concept fit the group’s mission and efforts. Persinger said when the idea circulated around the group, Dorcey and Heredia-Taylor stepped up. The group also is receiving support from Rick Frevert, director of Lyon County Emergency Management. Dorcey said the group also will be included in the county’s emergency plan.
“LC-COAD is a voluntary organization with members across the community,” Dorcey said in a press release. “It’s members work together to respond to people and the community in a coordinated manner to meet the needs of victims of disasters of all kinds, natural or manmade.”
The organization’s mission is to support the work of direct response groups in Lyon County such as police and fire.
“It supports other response agencies,” Heredia-Taylor said. “Operating at its best, under the purview of local authorities, the LC-COAD will help prevent duplication of services through its primary mission, which is to direct the activities of other volunteers and volunteer organizations.”
Dorcey said when a disaster reaches a certain level, Frevert can decide to activate the organization. Dorcey said the group would serve several functions including a clearinghouse for volunteers. The group would funnel volunteers to the appropriate places for them. Volunteers coming in would be screened for skills and sent to the appropriate task.
“Within 72 hours of a disaster, we can expect volunteers, perhaps hundreds of them, to arrive in Emporia wanting to help,” Dorcey said. “It will be the LC-COAD’s primary function to activate a volunteer reception center to receive, screen and meaningfully employ these spontaneous volunteers.”
Volunteers also would be given some type of identification that would identify them as being authorized to be in the area.
“The whole idea is that once a disaster happens you’ll have a perimeter set up and volunteers will be put to productive work as soon as possible,” Dorcey said.
Another mission of the group is the management of resources including donations that come in such as water, food and clothing. The organization would serve as a starting point for people seeking to send donations. They would tell people seeking to send donations what is needed and what is not needed. It also would be responsible for distributing leftover donations after the disaster is over. Leftovers would be sent to local agencies that could use them.
“Part of the recovery part of clean-up is the disposal of that 500 to 600 pair of jeans that came in at the last minute,” Heredia-Taylor said.
The organization also could evolve into helping victims as well.
“The volunteer reception center often evolves into a victim recovery center,” Heredia-Taylor said. “In this mode, this center services as a clearinghouse for assistance to those who have been affected by a disaster and provides guidance in seeking assistance from federal and state agencies as well as local sources of aid.”
Organizations in Lyon County are welcome to join the group. Call Dorcey at 794-3476 or Heredia-Taylor at the American Red Cross at 342-4211 for more information.