Resources

Engaging Volunteers: Tips for Legal Departments

Mutual and Automatic Aid Agreements Ensure that your locality has a Mutual Aid Agreement or Automatic Aid Agreement in place and be familiar with the specifications and legalities of the agreement prior to the emergency situation. Familiarize yourself with both state-to-state aid agreements, like EMAC, in addition to agreements with localities in your state.  … Read more

Engaging Volunteers: Tips for Emergency Management Professionals

During a natural disaster, volunteers can be a tremendous asset or a liability. Emergency management professionals can help ensure that volunteers are able to help during response and recovery by following these tips. Volunteer Safety Training: Have a basic volunteer safety training program in place that can quickly be given to volunteers before they are… Read more

Engaging Volunteers: Tips for Accounting and Finance Departments

  Mutual and Automatic Aid Agreements Ensure that your locality has a Mutual Aid Agreement or Automatic Aid Agreement in place and be familiar with the specifications and legalities of the agreement prior to an emergency situation. Familiarize yourself with both state-to-state aid agreements, like EMAC, in addition to agreements with localities in your state.… Read more

An Introduction to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and its offshoot discount incentive program, the Community Rating System (CRS), help communities get back on their feet in the wake of flooding incidents by providing affordable insurance to property owners and encouraging communities to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations. The program, managed by the Federal Emergency Management… Read more

IBTS Tools: Declaration of Disaster Request Wizard

Association of State and Territorial Health Officials: Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreements

Mutual aid agreements and other types of assistance agreements facilitate the rapid sharing of emergency aid and resources among governments and organizations at all levels. These can involve pre-existing agreements like the  or may require the creation of new instruments to address emerging events or parties outside of existing compacts. Depending on the nature and… Read more

Managing Spontaneous Volunteers in Times of Disaster

The Synergy of Structure and Good Intentions When disaster – natural or man-made – strikes a community, specific emergency management and nonprofit organizations automatically respond according to a pre-established plan. Each of these designated organizations has a specific role to play in ensuring an effective response to and recovery from the disaster’s devastation. Yet one… Read more

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD)

  National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) member list  

Pay it Forward

In the January 2009 flood, the small town of South Prairie in east Pierce County was inundated by mud.  A local high school initiated an MLK Day service project for its students. Coordinating efforts with the mayor, nearly 75 kids showed up to be a ‘mud brigade,’ shoveling mud out of critically needed roadways, buildings,… Read more

Florida Division of Emergency Management

This application guide contains the forms and necessary information required for submission of the 2015 /CERT Program Subgrant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS): Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Program. The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015, includes provisions for providing funding assistance to… Read more