Get Started as a VashonBePrepared Volunteer!

VashonBePrepared 101 is a few hour course taught once or twice a year to new prospective volunteers for VashonBePrepared. Topics include a rundown on the risks Vashon faces, who all these various groups are and what role they've taken on, an introduction to many of the groups, and the Vashon Emergency Operations Center (EOC). It is probably the single best best to learn about the overall disaster preparedness movement on Vashon and figure out how you can best play a contributing role. Inquire about future courses with an email to volunteer@VashonBePrepared.org.

Consider taking the advanced training available from CERT. Our Vashon program is a regional model and the free course is 40 hours long - double the normal national curriculum. Contact CERT to inquire about upcoming courses.

Additional training opportunities are available from each of our partner organizations too. Check their web sites and national affiliates for specifics.

Learn the formal infrastructure and vocabulary

Vashon volunteers can take the online ICS-100 and ICS-200 courses to learn some of the basic vocabulary and process used by emergency personnel nationally. ICS 700 and ICS-800 classes are also highly recommended and focus more on the management system used during larger events. Most of these free courses can be done at home in an hour or two over the Internet.

We've also a list of the myriad acronyms you may encounter. 

Vashon EOC Section Chiefs are urged to take the ICS-300 and even the ICS-400 course - each of which is a 2 day long in-class instructor led course - to more fully understand the National Incident Command System and how this integrates with the Emergency Support Functions (ESF) which is how the Vashon EOC is currently organized.

Disaster management is a profession and there are a huge number of training resources available to those motivated. The following will lead you to many of those. Unless you are aspiring to this profession though, be forewarned that you'll likely want to set some limits and focus on just those lessons that help you with your chosen volunteer role!

National Emergency Management Training

• Emergency Management Institute (EMI): training.fema.gov
• Emergency Management Institute (EMI) online courses: training.fema.gov/IS
• Emergency Management Institute (EMI) NIMS courses: training.fema.gov/IS/NIMS.asp
• Emergency Management Institute (EMI) National Response Framework courses: training.fema.gov/nrfres_IS.asp
• National Emergency Learning Center's Learning Resource Center: www.lrc.fema.gov
• International Association of Emergency Managers - Certification Courses: www.iaem.com/certification/CEMPrepCourse.htm

Washington Training

• State of Washington Emergency Management Division:
  https://mil.wa.gov/emergency-management-division
• or https://reg.abcsignup.com/view/cal1a.aspx?ek=&ref=&aa=&sid1=&sid2=&as=38&wp=127&
• tz=&ms=&nav=&cc=&cat1=&cat2=&cat3=&aid=WSEMD&rf
• Suggested training & classes for WA radio folk:
  www.waraces.us/training

Regional Disaster Training Links

• King County OEM has periodic training opportunities as listed at:
  www.kingcounty.gov/safety/prepare/EmergencyManagementProfessionals/TrainingandExercise.aspx
• Seattle OEM has also kindly allowed Vashon volunteers to attend some of their trainings in the past. See their current schedule at: www.seattle.gov/emergency/events/
• Pierce County OEM has additional training opportunities listed at https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/986/Training-Exercises
• our events calendar might be used to note training opportunities (in the future)

General Board and Non-Profit Training

• United Way: www.uwkc.org/nonprofit/default.asp
• Blue Avocado: www.blueavocado.org

Special Training & Credentialing for Medical Volunteers

• See the MRC Volunteer page for additional requirements for medical volunteers.