Full Notification

NEWS RELEASE

SWANTON TO RECEIVE SHELTER EQUIPMENT AND TRAINING
AS PART OF RED CROSS INITIATIVE

Town to Increase Preparedness -- Local Volunteers Needed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE… (Swanton, VT – July 15, 2013) As the second anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene approaches, the lessons learned continue to play out across our region. One such lesson involves community sheltering capacity and the desire of the American Red Cross to increase local preparedness.

On August 7, 2013, Swanton will join the growing number of communities across Vermont and the Upper Valley working with the Red Cross to take the next step in emergency planning through the Red Cross Local Disaster Shelter Initiative. Swanton will be the latest of 35 communities statewide, including Montgomery in Franklin County, to partner with the Red Cross as part of the Initiative. While a few other Franklin County communities are in discussions with the Red Cross at this time, all towns are encouraged to reach out to the Red Cross to see how they can receive the free equipment and training being offered.

WHO: Swanton Officials, Swanton Residents and the American Red Cross
WHAT: Training for a local disaster shelter – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
WHEN: August 7, 2013, from 6pm – 8:30pm
WHY: To enhance local emergency preparedness
WHERE: Swanton Village Municipal Complex

HOW: To sign up for the August 7th training, call Swanton Police Chief Leonard Stell at 802-868-4100 or contact Larry Kupferman at the American Red Cross by calling 802-660-9130, ext. 113 or by e-mail at [email protected]. No prior experience is required.

More than 200 towns across Vermont were impacted by Tropical Storm Irene. Not even the American Red Cross, with its 12 Disaster Action Teams across our region, could be in that many communities at once. To enhance preparedness throughout Vermont and the Upper Valley of New Hampshire, the American Red Cross created the Local Disaster Shelter Initiative.

At the August 7th training, interested Swanton residents will become familiar with the equipment being provided by the Red Cross to stock the local shelter as part of the initiative (cots, blankets, emergency radios, emergency lighting, signage, vests and water) and will receive the training necessary to open and manage the shelter until additional, outside assistance can arrive.

At the heart of this Red Cross initiative is a goal of empowering communities to open local Red Cross shelters quickly and independently. With the necessary equipment and training being provided by the American Red Cross, individual communities are being asked to recruit between 10 and 20 volunteers to staff the shelter.

By opening local, community shelters faster and more independently, the Red Cross is working with towns to mitigate the problems created by storm conditions, road conditions and the availability of existing volunteers. The American Red Cross remains committed to being the first line of support to the people of our region with regard to disaster sheltering. However, Irene has taught us the realities and unpredictable nature of disasters. A community that receives the free training and material resources being offered by the Red Cross, worth approximately $3,500, will be taking an invaluable step toward a level of preparedness that meets today’s realities.