by Matthew Ciravella
AmeriCorps member serving with the King County Office of Emergency Management
The past few months have been incredibly busy. I started at my service site in late September and did my best to hit the ground running.
Right away, I started taking the trainings I needed in order to be integrate myself with the rest of my team. I began learning about the FEMA incident command system and other important tools that form the core elements of disaster response.
I was able to spend a large amount of time out in various communities across King County. I conducted six senior center preparedness workshops and presented them to 205 attendees. In these workshops, I talked about steps seniors can take to be prepared during emergencies, with a focus on low-cost preparations and community connections. I also gave away disaster supplies like first aid kids, document bags, flashlights, safety whistles, emergency blankets, and personal alarm systems to help attendees on their disaster preparation journeys.
In addition to the workshops, I attended several community events and staffed a table on behalf of the King County Office of Emergency Management, KCOEM, at a public health center, an elementary school and a charity run for wounded veterans. During these events, I gave away informational handouts, flyers and disaster preparedness supplies to attendees. It was an excellent opportunity to connect with the communities we serve. I gave out supplies and information to 275 people.
I also presented a basic disaster skills training webinar for the public 68 people attended it. I am planning to do more of these webinars during the next quarter.
Finally, I participated in several training exercises to help KCOEM and other partner agencies improve their own readiness skills. I volunteered for a training exercise for Sound Transit and assisted first responders in a simulation of a battery fire in a train tunnel in Bellevue. I also volunteered to help the Redmond Community Emergency Response Team, CERT, conduct their drill to train participants on the skills they'd learned to serve their own communities during a disaster.
