North Georgia Conference Disaster Response Ministry: Church Uses/title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta name="author" content="Ed Nance"> <meta name="copyright" content="Copyright 2007"> <meta name="description" content="There are a number of ways that a church can be used "> <meta name="keyword" content="church uses in disaster, church uses after disaster, disaster team, care ministry, early response team, shelter team, cooking team" </head> <script language="JavaScript" fptype="dynamicoutline">  </script> <script language="JavaScript1.2" fptype="dynamicoutline" src="../outline.js"> </script> <script language="JavaScript1.2" fptype="dynamicoutline" for="document" event="onreadystatechange()">  </script> <body onclick="dynOutline()"> <div align="center"> <center> <table border="1" width="100%"> <tr> <td width="100%" valign="top" bgcolor="#00FF00"> <p align="left"><b><a href="../images/primar1.jpg"><img border="0" src="../images/primar1.jpg" align="left" hspace="1" width="92" height="120"></a>North Georgia Conference Disaster Response Ministry</b></p> <h2 align="center">PLANNING FOR CHURCH USES IN DISASTER</h2> <h3 align="center">United Methodist Church</h3> <font class="normal"> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%" height="633"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td width="22%" valign="top"> <ul dynamicoutline initcollapsed><font size="2"> <ul dynamicoutline> </font> </ul> </ul> <font size="2"> <ul> <li><a href="../index.htm">Home Page</a></li> <li><a href="../conference%20comm%20plan/calender.htm">Conference Communications</a> <li><a href="../disaster%20news-georgia/news.htm">News - Georgia</a></li> <li><a href="../disaster%20news-national/news-national.htm">News - National</a></li> <li><a href="../bulletin%20inserts/bulletin-inserts.htm">Bulletin Inserts</a></li> <li><a href="../disaster%20watch/disaster%20watch.htm">Disaster Watch</a></li> <li><a href="../magazine%20articles/magazine%20articles.htm">Magazine Articles</a></li> <li><a href="disaster-prepared.htm">Your Disaster Preparation</a> <ul> <li><a href="basic-concepts.htm">Basic Disaster Concepts</a></li> <li><a href="top-risks.htm">Top Disaster Risks</a> <ul> <li><a href="disease/disease.htm">Disease</a></li> <li><a href="drought/drought.htm">Drought</a></li> <li>Dam Failure</li> <li><a href="earthquake/earthquakes.htm">Earthquake</a></li> <li>Extreme Heat</li> <li><a href="fire-structural/structural-fire.htm">Fires-Structural</a> </li> <li>Flood</li> <li>Gas Leak</li> <li>Hazardous Materials</li> <li><a href="hurricane/before-a-hurricane.htm">Hurricane</a></li> <li><a href="radiological-incidents/radiological-incidents.htm">Radiological Incident</a></li> <li><a href="terrorism/terrorism1.htm">Terrorism</a></li> <li>Thefts</li> <li>Thunderstorms</li> <li>Tornados</li> <li>Tropical Storm</li> <li><a href="wildfires/wildfires.htm">Wildfires</a> </li> <li>Winter Storms</li> </ul> </li> <li>Business Preparation</li> <li><a href="family-prep/family-prep.htm">Family Preparation</a></li> <li>Special Needs People</li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="disaster-prepared-church.htm">The Disaster Prepared Church</a> <ul> <li><a href="disaster-planning-fla.htm">Disaster Planning - Florida </a></li> <li><a href="../church-uses.htm">Planning for Church Uses</a> </li> <li><a href="../church-uses.htm">Church Disaster Coordinator</a> <ul> <li><a href="../church-coordinator-resolution.htm">Conference Resolution</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="church/care-ministry.htm">Local Church Care Ministry</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="../volunteer%20opportunities/volunteer%20opportunities.htm">Volunteer Opportunities</a></li> <li><a href="../disaster%20ministries/mission%20and%20role.htm">Disaster Ministries</a></li> <li><a href="../training%20opportunities/training%20opportunities.htm">Training</a></li> <li><a href="../teams/teams.htm">Teams</a></li> <li><a href="../donations/donations.htm">Donations</a></li> <li><a href="../links/links-sej-conference.htm">Links</a></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> <p> </font> </td> <td width="61%" valign="top"> <i> There is much that a church can do to use their facilities in supporting a disaster, whether it is nearby or hundreds of miles away. The key is preparation to react to the disaster with the components of that being planning, taking action on those plans, and training. </i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p> </span> <p><b>1. Establish a Early Response or Disaster Work Team to help your membership-community-region</b></p> <p><font size="2">An Early Response Team or Disaster Work Team are very involved on a one-on-one basis with a family and helping the family to clean up and recover from the disaster that they have experienced. All of our Christian training is called upon during these instances to reach out and lift up this family. The work is demanding but quite satisfying. </font></p> <p><font size="2">Between disasters the team can do local projects such as a roof repair, building a handicap ramp, repairing a porch, and other inside work. These projects take a few hours on a Saturday and help maintain skills and help people locally that could not help themselves.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="../teams/earlyresponseteam.htm">Early Response Team</a></font> <br><font size="2"><a href="../teams/disasterresponseteam.htm">Disaster Team</a></font></p> <p><b>2. Establish a Shelter Team for your Church as well as other nearby Locations</b></p> <p><font size="2">Shelter teams man a shelter on either eight or twelve-hour shifts twenty-four hours per day. Typically when a shelter is opened two or three teams provide the operational support for the shelter. Individual members of the team have background checks and go through several training courses to be able to respond with the team; so all this must be completed before a disaster. </font></p> <p><a href="../teams/shelterteam.htm"><font size="2">Shelter Team</font></a></p> <p><b>3. Establish a matching Shelter Feeding Team</b></p> <p>A shelter feeding team may be located with or without a shelter team. The cooking could take place at one location and transported to another where there are no kitchen facilities or there is insufficient capacity for the current needs. In addition to preparing food for those in the shelter is the food taken by Red Cross trucks into the disaster area to feed those that may have stayed behind in their homes or are assisting with cleanup.</p> <p><a href="../teams/shelterfeedingteam.htm"><font size="2">Shelter Feeding Team</font></a></p> <p><b>4. Establish a Disaster Childcare Team</b></p> <p>This is a specialized ministry that through play enables kids to deal with the trauma to which they have been exposed.</p> <p><a href="../teams/disasterchildcare.htm"><font size="2">Disaster Childcare</font></a></p> <p><b>5. Establish a Care Team including Stephens Ministers for Spiritual counseling and Grief Support</b></p> <p><font size="2">There is a great deal of preparation that goes into establishing a care team-team member selection, training, and experience to handle help people traumatized by a disaster.</font></p> <p><font size="2"><a href="../teams/careingministry.htm">Care Team</a></font></p> <p><b>6. Establish a volunteer group to address those with special needs - member, neighbors, those surrounding the church</b></p> <p><font size="2">There is a great need to identify those that are in the church who have specials needs (blind/limited sight, chemical sensitivities, cognitive or psychiatric disabilities, deaf/hard of hearing, mobility impaired, life support, dialysis, etc. that need to be checked on and supported during and after a community disaster and can reach beyond just church members. </font></p> <p><b>7. Establish a volunteer Medical Group of Nurses and Doctors</b></p> <p><font size="2">With issues like staph infection, possible epidemics or pandemics, and issues related to special needs individuals, the knowledge of those that have medical experience and can step in when there are situation that are facing the community and have the potential to overwhelm the working medical staffs. </font></p> <p><b>8. The Church building as an Evacuation or Disaster Shelter</b></p> <p><font size="2">This function is separate from the sheltering team as the church can also have a sheltering team or no team. Red Cross will fill out the rest of the operation. The local Emergency Management Agency will attempt to pick a shelter location from a list supplied by Red Cross that is close to the disaster. If that shelter is not able to accommodate the demand then Red Cross will open other shelters nearby. </font></p> <p><font size="2">Sheltering is a partnership between the American Red Cross and your church. The reason is that American Red Cross picks up the liability of operating a shelter and any damage that occurs during the period that the shelter is operational and supplies the food. Thee are a variety of characteristics that are considered. The three most important are space for cots, sufficient bathroom facilities, and showers. Bathroom facilities can be supplemented by outside Port johns and the shower problem with a Conference shower trailer. Currently there is one in North Georgia and another in South Georgia which are also located outside. More information regarding planning and operating a shelter will be added shortly. </font></p> <p><font size="2">Shelter Considerations</font> <br><font size="2">Sample Shelter Plan</font></p> <p><font size="3"><b>9. The Church Kitchen as a Companion to the Shelter or Distributed Feeding</b></font></p> <p><font size="2">A corresponding use to the shelter is the church kitchen for preparing meals. From the established relationship with Red Cross, they will supply the food and management, and the church team will cook it. As a part of establishing the relationship with Red Cross, the church kitchen must receive a health inspection from the county, not unlike restaurants nearby receive. Even though the team may have </font></p> <p><b>10. Using the Church as a Communications Center</b></p> <p><font size="2">If you have a shelter in the church the press in not allowed into dormitory area (cots) but a separate area can be establish where press releases are given.</font></p> <p><font size="2">During disasters the Red Cross and the North Georgia Methodist use short wave radio as a means of communicating and receiving information. Some of it may be missing person information, food requisitions, reports on number of shelter residents, and reports to the Conference of what nearby teams did the day before for reporting to the State Emergency Management Agency. This can be performed by a church member who is ham licensed.</font></p> <p><font size="2">Another use for a communications center is a kiosk or one or more bulletin boards can be set up and recent information, directions, or procedures regarding the disaster. It may be focused to the church member or to the community as as whole. It should be near a entrance with nearby parking or can even be outside near the parking.</font></p> <p><b>11. Onsite Administration - Coordinate those with needs with work teams</b></p> <p><font size="2">Onsite Administration is a service that is provided during the clean-up phase of a nearby disaster. This period may cover a couple of weeks or months just after a disaster with the time based on the size of the disaster. The purpose of onsite administration is to match request of assistance with Methodist work teams that are coming into the area. The teams also call or email and list the services that they can perform. An attempt to match work orders to a team occurs just before they leave so they have some idea of what tools to bring. </font></p> <p><font size="2"> Setting up an area for this may be a corner of an open area or a room with a couple of tables and chairs (folding is OK), a telephone connection, electrical connections for charging phones and computers, and nearby access to an outside door as there is traffic to this area. Also, office supplies will be needed. The conference may supply the computer and printer and office software and the disaster response ministry will supply the Onsite Administration software and files. This is currently being developed.</font></p> <p><font size="2">Onsite Administration records the team member work hours in order to get a community credit (about $18/hr-2007) for the community matching for federal disaster funds. So no money actually changes hands and the team member hours act as a credit for the community matching (25/75). </font></p> <p><b>12. Use the Church facilities as a triage near the disaster</b></p> <p><font size="2">The local Emergency Management Agency (EMA) is interested in identifying locations in the city/county that could be used as a injury collection point near a disaster. If there has been a tornado or some other type of incident, the nearest emergency room can quickly become overloaded. By establishing a first aid triage near the incident, transportation is minimized and medical treatment is more efficient. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) and CERT members can quickly assess injured people into three groups- red (serious), yellow (intermediate), and green (minor). Then the EMT will addressed the red cases and have them on their way while the CERT members are working with the the yellow and green groups. </font></p> <p><font size="2">If conditions permit, the triage would be established on the parking lot or a grassy areas near a road. If it were wet and/or cold, the triage might be inside with some coffee to assist all.</font></p> <p><font size="2">It might be several years before an incident would occur near the church and the need would arise, but having the planning done and the relationship established goes a long way in preparing your community. </font></p> <p><b>13. House Work Teams coming to help your Community</b></p> <p><font size="2">Teams that are coming to your area to help your church congregation and neighbors are not paid for their efforts in cash. Their reward is in helping others. Assisting them with church yard space for a tent or a Sunday School room or parking space for a trailer provides their housing. At some locations the church members provide some or all of their food. At others, they are provided kitchen access and cook their own food. At still others, they may work out their own </font></p> <p><font size="2">These teams began arriving during the clean-up phase and continue through the rebuild phase. They address the people that fall through the cracks and help get the community up and going again. </font></p> <p><b>14. Point of Distribution (POD) for food, water, ice, medical supplies, etc. </b><p><font size="2">A section of the church parking lot might be designated as a drive-through distribution point. Trailers with supplies can be located in one area. (Be sure to put a pad under the the adjustable front stand to prevent the wheels from gradually sinking into the asphalt, not a problem on concrete). Other times the supplies may have to be stacked along the edge of the parking lot or building and covered with tarps. </font><p><font size="2">The distribution lane or lanes (depends on number of number of people available) to hand out and restock the lanes. The need for supplies of this nature occurs during the first few weeks after a disaster incident that would be classified as a medium to large disaster. </font><p><font size="3"><b>15. Collection Point for Supplies Going to a Disaster </b></font><p><font size="2">The supplies may be collected inside or a trailer may be stationed for handling the supplies. Supplies that are appreciated are food (canned or dry packaged), water, and disposable plates, coffee cups, drinking cups, napkins, and silverware. In some cases, packaged clothing with the size and group (men, women, boys, girls) on the package is also accepted, but check first. Some church have got the media and/or other churches involved in helping to fill out the trailer. The entire cubic space of the trailer cannot be used as the weight of many layers may burst water containers on the bottom. If they are on pallets and wrapped the containers can take more load. Put the lightweight stuff (plates, etc.) on top</font><p><font size="3"><b>16. In-Trip Hosting</b></font><p><font size="2">If your church is within several miles of a major route going to toward a disaster and you are about one (350-500 miles) or two days (700-1000 miles) drive from the disaster, then consider housing teams overnight either on their way to the disaster location or on the way back.</font><p><font size="2"><a href="../volunteer%20opportunities/hosptality-center.htm">In-Trip Hosting</a></font><p><font size="3"><b>17. Long Term Recovery Organization</b></font><p><font size="2">Help those in disaster by helping to organize, staff, and training a non-profit recovery corporation and support of the corporation during the rebuilding period.</font><p><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><font size="3"><b>18. Using Spontaneous Volunteers from the church and community</b></font></span><p><font size="2">When a disaster happens, there are people without training, credentials, and equipment that show up and ask to help. Be prepared to do quick training and where they can be used.</font> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p align="center"> <font size="1"><font face="Arial">Last Update: 11/29/2008 </font> <font face="arial" size="-2">© Copyright </font></font><font face="arial" size="-2">North Georgia Conference</font><font size="1"><font face="arial" size="-2">. 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