PBEM Community Resilience Flagship Programs: Difference between revisions

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The Portland NET program is modeled from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [[wikipedia:Community_emergency_response_team|Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)]] program. The CERT program began in 1985 in Los Angeles, and was itself modeled from a similar program the Los Angeles Fire Department observed in<gallery>

File:CERT and NET.jpg|alt=CERT (in green) and NET (in orange) working together during a Scenario Village exercise.|''CERT (in green) and NET (in orange) working together during a Scenario Village exercise. Photo by Ernest Jones.''

File:Emergencymanage3arrow.jpg|alt=The Emergency Management Cycle. NETs act primarily in the RESPONSE space, but have roles throughout the cycle.|''The Emergency Management Cycle. NETs act primarily in the RESPONSE space, but have roles throughout the cycle. Illustration by Hugh Newell.''

</gallery>Tokyo, Japan. Los Angeles Fire became interested in citizen response programs following the [[wikipedia:1985_Mexico_City_earthquake|1985 Mexico City Earthquake]], where untrained citizens rescued around 800 people but nearly 100 people of those citizens lost their lives in rescue attempts.<ref>Whittaker, J., McLennan, B., & Handmer, J. (2015). A review of informal volunteerism in emergencies and disasters: Definition, opportunities and challenges. ''International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction'', ''13'', 358–368. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.07.010</nowiki></ref> FEMA adopted and standardized the Los Angeles CERT program in 1993. In 1994, Rachael Jacky with Portland Fire and Rescue (PF&R) adapted the national CERT curriculum for Portland and incorporated it with existing emergency response volunteer teams. In order to avoid confusing the CERT program with the Portland Police Bureau’s [https://www.portland.gov/police/divisions/sert Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT)], the program was renamed the Portland Neighborhood Emergency Team program (NET). Many volunteer emergency response programs in the Portland region (such as Tigard and Beaverton) have retained the CERT title.

COADs, which stands for Community Organizations Active in Disasters, are groups formed to enhance community resilience and response during times of emergencies or disasters. The purpose of COADs is to bring together various local organizations, such as nonprofits, faith-based groups, and community service organizations, to collaborate and coordinate their efforts in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. These organizations play a crucial role in disaster management by providing support services, resources, and expertise to assist individuals and communities in need. COADs aim to ensure that community members receive timely and effective assistance during emergencies, promote information sharing and communication, and foster partnerships among different organizations to maximize their collective impact in times of crisis. By working together, COADs strive to strengthen community resilience and facilitate a more coordinated and comprehensive response to disasters.

COADs convene in many places in the United States. The City of Portland began its own COAD late in 2018. The City of Portland's web presence for PDX COAD is at: https://www.portland.gov/pbem/coad.