Disaster Preparedness Workshop

Disaster Preparedness Workshop Gregg Nakano, a disaster response specialist who has worked on international disasters including the Indonesian tsunami, Bam earthquake in Iran and Hurricane Stan in Guatemala, is organizing a workshop, “Natural Disaster Awareness for Community Leaders”,  10am-2pm Thursday 21 November at the Manoa District Park pavilion meeting room. Gregg is with the U.S. National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC). The workshop is free. Course Description Status: FEMA Certified Description: Community leaders have the responsibility and opportunity to enhance their communities’ ability to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all forms of disasters. This course will help to enhance these individuals’ understanding of disasters, risk assessment in the context of disaster management, prevailing emergency management procedures and operations, and the different vulnerability factors that exist within their local communities. Target Audience: This course is intended for traditional community leaders, religious organizations, the business community, civic groups, elected leaders, emergency managers, and first responders. Course Level: Awareness Prerequisites: None. This is an introductory course. Requirements: None Registration Information Registration Closes: 11/21/2013 Host Agency: National Disaster Preparedness Training Center Contact Person: Herman Utoafili 808-956-0610 utoafili@hawaii.edu To register, please log in here: Log in Once registered, please select: 11/21/2013 AWR-310 Natural Disaster Awareness for Community Leaders Manoa, Hawaii   Note from Gregg Nakano: __________________________________________ Aloha! We are all lucky enough to live in Hawaii, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Blessed with lovely beaches, lush valleys and a population raised in the spirit of aloha, the inhabitants of Hawaii enjoy a high quality of life and one of the longest life expectancies in the United States. That said, Hawaii is one of the most remote island chains in the world and dependent on imported fuel (80%) and food (90%) to survive.  More worrisome, Hawaii is subject to almost every natural hazards known to man, including floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis. Due to Hawaii’s isolation from the mainland and vulnerability to a wide variety of hazards, the late Senator Inouye designated the University of Hawaii as the recipient of FEMA funds to develop the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC).  Since its establishment in 2007, the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) has worked to develop a series of FEMA certified courses designed to improve the individual’s and local neighborhood’s capacity to prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from the impacts of natural disasters. The logic behind establishing the Center comes from the Federal Government’s realization that in the event of a major disaster, it is always the local population who constitute the first responders.  Moreover, it may be days or weeks before any sort of State or Federal response reaches the more isolated communities.  Living over 2,000 miles from the nearest continent, the people of Hawaii may have to be self sufficient for as long as 10 days before the first seaborne resupply arrives. And should a tsunami or hurricane significantly damage the docking facilities, that response might be further complicated by a need to repair the port at the same time that ships are off loading critical supplies. In order to help communities begin thinking through the hazards, risks and vulnerabilities facing them, the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) will deliver the National Disaster Awareness for Community Leaders Course from 10am-2pm Thursday 21 November 2013 at the Manoa District Park. ***This is your community and your course.  This course is provided free of charge and funded by federal tax dollars.  Please share the flyer below with people you believe are community leaders and who you want to attend.*** Realizing that no community will be disaster ready after a single course, the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center (NDPTC) is developing a “model community” program where we will work with a community to develop a comprehensive disaster resilience strategy, which will including all the courses the NDPTC delivers.  Because of its proximity to the University of Hawaii in Manoa and serving as the residence of several key city, county and state government officials, Manoa Valley was chosen by the NDPTC as its first test community. This first Community Leaders Course on 21 November, will be followed by an introduction to the model community concept at the Manoa Town Hall meeting 6:15 pm Tuesday 10 December.  This will be followed in January by the “Natural Disaster Awareness for Caregivers of Senior Citizens Course”, selected out of respect for the large percentage of senior citizens living in Manoa Valley. Key Dates 21 November  Natural Disaster Awareness for Community Leaders (AWR-310) 10 December  Manoa Town Hall Meeting TBD January   Natural Disaster Awareness for Caregivers of Senior Citizens While these courses are certified by FEMA, they will benefit from your input and improvements so that the course examples and information are presented in a way that is interesting and relevant for other Hawaii residents.  As we are required to revise allNDPTC courses at least every three (3) years, your suggestions and critiques are essential to ensuring that the course content is more easily absorbed and then practiced to improve community resilience at the local level. Finally, those individuals who score 90% or higher on the final exam and are interested in becoming community trainers are welcome to apply.  Anyone interested in becoming a NDPTC Instructor, should apply to Mr. James Burke, Associate Director for Course Development and Delivery by email: <jamespb@hawaii.edu> or by phone: (808) 956-0606 Thank you again for all your work to prepare yourself for a disaster and to help your neighbor to make Manoa a stronger community.  Please forward the invitation to friends and colleagues who are leaders in your neighborhood. Sincerely yours, Gregg Nakano If you have any questions about the course or the Center, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email: <gnakano@hawaii.edu> or by phone: (808) 956-0607 desk / (617) 515-1099 mobile.