Headlines

USA Freedom Corps Director Visits Ohio

Ohio Medical Reserve Corps

Volunteers Begin Training for Handling a Disaster

Volunteer Reception Center Training

Centralized Data System for Lucas County Citizen Corps

FREE TRAINING: Disaster Response: Focus on Children

Block Watch Coordinator Named "Volunteer of the Year"

Homeland Security's Ready Campaign Update

USA Freedom Corps Director Henry Lozano
VIsits Ohio

L-R): Kitty Burcsu, Executive Director, Ohio Community Service Council, Henry Lozano, Susan Rogers, Chair, Ohio Community Service Council.

Henry Lozano, Deputy Assistant to the President/Director of USA Freedom Corps, was a featured speaker at this year's volunteer conference - Forging New Links (April 21). As Director of USA Freedom Corps, Mr. Lozano is charged with implementing the administration's vision for volunteerism and service in America. Echoing the President's Call to Service, which launched the initiative in his 2002 State of the Union, Mr. Lozano works to promote and expand opportunities for Americans to serve causes greater than themselves. Mr. Lozano was appointed by President Bush and also serves on the Board of Directors for the Corporation for National and Community Service.

While in Columbus, Mr. Lozano also had the opportunity to meet with Ohio Citizen Corps/Medical Reserve Corps coordinators, and present two Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. "I am very impressed with the pro-active nature the State of Ohio has taken with the development of Citizen Corps and Medical Reserve Corps," Mr. Lozano said. "Ohio truly stand out as a leader in creating a culture of citizen preparedness."

Ohio Medical Reserve Corps

Pickaway County MRC is the newest Ohio Medical Reserve Corps unit. There are now 80 units in Ohio. The map below shows Ohio's MRC development compared to the rest of the country.

Ohio MRC unit leaders attended the national conference in Portland, Oregon. More than 30 representatives from Ohio attended.

Stu Kerr, Lucas County MRC Coordinator, presented local unit procedures and preparedness plans at the conference.

Ohio Citizen Corps Activities Across the State

Volunteers begin training for handling a disaster

May 9, 2008    By Jordan Cohen (Vindy.com)

NILES — This month marks the 23rd anniversary of the 1985 tornado that devastated parts of Niles, Newton Falls and Hubbard.

The Volunteer Services Agency has established a location for volunteers to organize, should a similar disaster strike.
That place is the Eastwood YMCA on Youngstown Road, which has been designated a Volunteer Reception Center. The facility was chosen because of its size and its capabilities that include showers and adequate room for beds for volunteers who would have to be housed during an emergency.

“This is a place and a process,” said Lucinda Sentner, Medical Service Corps coordinator for Trumbull County. “This is where everyone will be processed and trained, and where they’ll report to be bused to the location of a disaster.” Nearly 20 volunteers gathered Thursday for a four-hour orientation and training session at the YMCA. They practiced the registration process, which is seen as critical for keeping volunteers organized and assigning the right people for any needs that arise.

“We have this place and this training so that we don’t have a disaster within a disaster,” said Cathy Genaro, a Niles Health Department registered nurse. Volunteers are divided into two groups: “Just-in-Time (JIT)” volunteers who are not associated with any particular response agency, and the Medical Service Corps, whose volunteers are licensed professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and emergency medical technicians. Genaro said the Corps does not have enough local volunteers.

“We desperately need more physicians, and don’t forget veterinarians,” Genaro said. “Animals have to be cared for, too.”
One volunteer who has plenty of experience with disasters is Jim Carano of Boardman, a retired industrial hygienist from the Air Force Base in Vienna. Carano, who specializes in shelter management, volunteered to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

The 73-year old Carano said that he and his fellow retirees could constitute a large and valuable volunteer resource. The two groups of volunteers are not first responders and some may never go to a disaster site. Karl Roach, project coordinator for the Volunteer Services Agency, said some of the JIT people could work in the reception center in such positions as registration, communications, data entry and transportation.

“The key is training,” Roach said. “We need people with commitment to train so that we’re ready.” In addition to the YMCA, the agency is considering the Moose Lodge in Mecca as another potential Volunteer Reception Center. A similar orientation meeting will be held there later this year. “This is when we have to work out the kinks,” Roach said. “Planning and practice are essential for us to be effective when we’re needed most.”

Volunteer Reception Center Training

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Location: Longview Center, Mansfield, OH
Registration:  8:30a.m.
Training begins:  9:00 a.m.

Pre-registration is REQUIRED!
Cost: FREE
Provided:  All training materials, Continental Breakfast and a Boxed Lunch

For more information, contact:
Kathi Cutlip, RSVP of Richland County
Phone: 419-525-2816 or rsvp@unitedwayofrichlandcounty.org
35 N. Park Street
Mansfield, OH  44902

Click here for registration form

Centralized Data System for Lucas County Citizen Corps
By: Jeanette Hrovatich, Director United Way of Greater Toledo 2-1-1 Tom Barnhizer, Deputy Director Lucas County EMA

Lucas County Citizen Corps under the leadership of Deputy EMA Director Tom Barnhizer has been operational since 2002. The Council that leads this Citizen Corps is represented by County elected officials, Hospitals,  Neighborhood Watch Coordinators, Firefighters, Health Department Officials and Medical Reserve Corps, CERT,  Volunteers in Police Service and many community leaders.

One of the most unique partnerships in Lucas County Citizen Corps is the relationship of the non-profit organizations who have partnered this past year to design and implement a community-wide intake procedure for residents of Lucas County during a disaster.

American Red Cross, Area Office of Aging of Northwest Ohio, United Way of Greater Toledo (Volunteer Center & 2-1-1) The Salvation Army and the Lucas County EMA came together to design a central intake procedure to utilize the telephone service 2-1-1 during a disaster.

Click here to read more...

Disaster Response: Focus on Children

Disaster Response: Focus on Children is a day-long training program designed to prepare Ohio Medical Reserve Corps volunteers to respond to the needs of children in disasters.

“Children are not little adults. They have specific needs. Moreover, children are often the most seriously affected victims of major disasters and suffer devastating acute and long term physical
damage.” The American Academy of Pediatrics

Program Date and Site: Columbus, Saturday May 31, Quest Business Centers (Pulsar Place) Time: 8 AM– 5 PM (Breakfast and lunch will be provided) Presented by: The Rainbow Center Global Child Health (RCGCH), a division of the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital (RB&C) of University Hospitals Case (UHC) Medical Center, in Cleveland, Ohio. Sponsored by: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH. Endorsed and funded by: Ohio Department of Health through ASPR grant # CFDA 93.889.

Learning Objectives: Identify the most important problems and priorities for children in various types of disaster situations and learn how to begin to address these issues within the current domestic disaster response network. Educational Design: Didactic lectures with problem-based learning exercises, skills training and practice.



Additional Registration Information: Participants can register online through the OMRC website: www.serveohio.org. This is a FREE course. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are provided by Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine for doctors and nurses (AMA PRA Category 1 credits only) and by the CWRU Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS) for psychologists, social workers and counselors. For additional information regarding course registration please e-mail: medcme@case.edu.

For information about the course contact Felicite Chatel-Katz, RCGCH Academic Coordinator; 216-844-8918; Felicite.Chatel-Katz@UHhospitals.org.

VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION
Block Watch Coordinator Named
Volunteer of the Year

Westerville City resident Leisa Tremper was recently named volunteer of the year by the Ohio Crime Prevention Association (OCPA) for her 15 years of work as a block watch coordinator in her neighborhood.

(L to R): Officer Sheri Robertson, the '2007' President of OCPA presents the award to Leisa Tremper

Leisa Tremper has been the neighborhood watch captain in her area for nearly 15 years and has organized events throughout the community.

On March 28, 2007, Leisa was made aware of a burglary in her neighborhood. She proceeded to spread the word by sending information flyers to over 300 homes, asking people to call her with any information. A neighbor called and said that morning a man had knocked very loudly at her door, scaring her. She did go to the door, but talked to them behind a closed storm door. She secured a vehicle description and called police with the information. On April 4, a call came into Dispatch about a burglary in progress a few miles from a burglary the previous week. As Detective Schwartz was on his way to the scene, he relayed the vehicle information provided to him. The vehicle, matching the description, was spotted by an officer and stopped. The offenders were arrested and further investigation revealed that the offenders had committed at least four burglaries in Westerville and at least 10 others in Central Ohio. Several stolen guns and other valuables were recovered from the suspects. The citizen volunteer was later able to identify both suspects from a photo line-up, even further helping the case for court.

After the incident, Leisa took her own initiative to recruit people in the surrounding areas to start their own neighborhood watch program – she received a tremendous response! Seven additional neighborhood watches were organized as a result of her efforts.

Congratulations Leisa ...keep up the great work!

HOMELAND SECURITY URGES SMALL BUSINESSES TO
‘DEFINE THEIR DAY AFTER’ THROUGH NEW PUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTISEMENTS

WASHINGTON – As hurricane season approaches, Homeland Security’s Ready Campaign and The Advertising Council are reaching out to small businesses and encouraging them to “define their day after” by putting emergency preparedness at the top of their to-do list. A series of national public service advertisements (PSA) entitled “Procrastination” were released nationwide on Thursday, May 22 for radio, print, internet and outdoor media. These PSAs focus on what can happen when a business owner chooses to place making an emergency plan at the bottom of their to-do list.  The theme taps into the natural tendency for individuals to put off making plans for another day.

For more information on SBA’s disaster program and preparedness tips and links to the public service announcements and the Nationwide disaster guide - click here!