Volunteer OPPORTUNITIES

 Coos County ARES/RACES exists to provide a viable first response to local or regional communications system outages or overloads. Using Amateur Radio equipment and operators as directed by the County Emergency Manager, ARES/RACES provides back-up voice and digital hard-copy communications to designated agencies for a period of not less than 72 hours, or until normal communications are restored.

2 meter weekly net...Tuesdays @ 7:00 pm   Pacific 145.190  Neg offset  146.2 

 For current information call Dan Bissell 541-347-4580.  

In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks thousands of volunteers came to assist in the response efforts. Unfortunately, this event demonstrated the inability to effectively utilize those volunteers and their much needed skills. Without a system in place, there was no way to identify unaffiliated volunteers, verify their credentials, or offer liability coverage.

MRC volunteers include health and medical professionals, as well as others interested in improving the public health and response capabilities of the their local jurisdiction. MRC units identify, credential, and train volunteers that can support emergency preparedness and response efforts.

MRC volunteers can fulfill roles during the following situations:

1. Public Health Emergencies: Events that threaten public health, such as a disease out breaks or toxic chemical releases.

2. Mass Casualty Incidents: Disasters that causes in jury to a large number of people.

3. Natural Disasters: Events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires, or storms that can displace a large number of people who may be seeking shelter, food, water, and medical card.

 https://cooshealthandwellness.org/public-health/emergency-preparedness/medical-reserve-corps/ 

 Phillip Nel

Emergency Preparedness Manager
541-266-6717

 The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, which allows them to focus on more complex tasks.  Through CERT, the capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters is built and enhanced. 

empirecert.coosbay@yahoo.com

The Sheriff is responsible for every search in Coos County, as provided under ORS 404; therefore, every active member of this organization is deputized. Subsequently, only those of high moral standards and who are driven to help others are accepted.

Each active member has their own personal equipment with additions provided by the organization. Members of this organization are from all walks of life. They are willing to be on-call whenever needed, day or night. Coos County Search and Rescue is an all-weather, versatile unit, equipped with everything needed to conduct a well-organized search. The individuals have made themselves available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at little to no cost to the county.

Below are the SAR units who provide services in our community.

Membership is restricted to approved applicants. All SAR unit membership is open to both male and female. No applicant will be denied membership meeting unit criteria, on the basis of race, creed, color, religion or sex. Application is basically the same for all units; you will need to fill out an application and either turn it into the unit you are interested in joining or the Sheriff's Office. All applicants will have a background, criminal history, and driving record check.

In addition to active duty members, Search and Rescue has specialty teams for specialized rescue situations. These teams include:

• The Dive Team
• The Ground Rescue Unit
• Mounted SAR
• Canine Unit
• ATV and Snow Unit
• Communications Unit

Every member of the Coos County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue Division must meet certain standards and training to ensure a safe and successful search and/or rescue. The standards are developed and maintained by the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association (OSSA).

These certification standards are the minimum which meet state requirements of the Office of Emergency Management and still allow the flexibility for the specific needs or conditions in which our ground personnel operate. The OSSA certification standards are the minimum standards for SAR personnel who will be involved in the field with ground SAR operations as well.

Search & Rescue...  www.co.coos.or.us

The Club supports many Running and Bike events during the year.  

  Adding  amateur radio communication  along the route adds to the safety of the participants and great field practice for our members.

Many of the communication skills we practice on the radios are wonderful 

training aids in case they are needed for Visual Reports thru EYEWARN.

2 meter Tuesday weekly Net @ 7:30 pm  146.610, neg offset, 110.9 

  As a Public Service Volunteer you will be  offered many free courses thru FEMA  to better understand the National Incident Management System  (NIMS) and the Incident  Command System (ICS) that has become the  "Gold Standard" for handling  small isolated events to Catastophic Disasters. 

   Backround checks are now part of doing business to allow access to sensitive or secure public buildings, devastated search areas  point of distribution sites and are needed to standardize the ID verifcation cards. These are usually handled thru the County Emergency Managers office in Coquille.

This is neccessary for your and fellow volunteers safety as well as the safety and security of the victums and their property..

 Please donate your time and skills, small efforts make a huge difference to your community.