Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
April 28, 2017 1:00 a.m.
I returned earlier this week following training in Atlanta. The training is an annual requirement for my participation with a disaster response team. I have been a member of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance National Response Team (PDA NRT) since 2010.
The PDA NRT serves communities and individuals affected by disasters, both natural (tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, etc.) and human-caused (shootings, terrorism, arson, etc.). The NRT has approximately eighty members, all of whom are volunteers. Volunteers are expected to provide four weeks of service annually, including the annual training conference. The remaining service can be achieved through training or deployments.
Please recognize that no City funds are used by me for my participation with PDA NRT: I make use of my accrued vacation time for the time away from Fernandina Beach, and my expenses are reimbursed by the NRT (the NRT is funded solely through voluntary contributions). Due to my transition to Fernandina Beach, my participation during the past year has been somewhat limited- establishing a new household, acclimating to a new community, and familiarizing myself with new personnel, policies, and procedures.
My most memorable deployments with the NRT were to Nashville, TN, following the 2010 flooding of that metropolitan area, and to a small community in Illinois, also in 2010 that had been struck by a tornado. My most recent response efforts were while I was in Connecticut: leading the formation of a statewide Long Term Recovery Group (LTRG) after Hurricane Sandy and coordinating a regional recovery effort for several small rural New England churches following heavy snowfalls in 2015. Although not formally deployed as an NRT member, my Connecticut community was struck by other weather events, leading to firsthand disaster response and recovery experiences: Hurricane Irene and a heavy (twenty-four inches) late October snowfall that left the northern portion of Connecticut without power for approximately seven days. It is those experiences that I share with others as part of our annual training.
This year’s training had several significant components. The first was related to LTRG training. The NRT is not a first response team, but what may be described as an early response team. When a community is truly befallen by a disaster, the effects of that disaster can be widespread. In those circumstances (unlike the impact of Hurricane Matthew on our community), LTRGs must be formed to assist with the community recovery: donations and volunteers must be managed, resources must be marshalled and delivered, case management of victims and construction efforts must be coordinated, and communications must be prepared. We were fortunate that Hurricane Matthew did not require such an effort here. LTRGs can take months to fully form and much longer to begin to be effective.
In support of LTRGs are several organizations similar to PDA NRT. Most of these organizations are part of a broad coalition:
National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD). Although many of the NVOAD groups are faith-based (including many of those faiths evident on Amelia Island: Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Latter Day Saints, and Jewish), many are not- United Way, Tool Bank, and Team Rubicon. NVOAD agencies have developed strong relationships with FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in order to provide disaster response assistance. If possible, I encourage you to consider offering financial support to an NVOAD agency (visit the NVOAD website to review participating agencies).
In 2016, the PDA NRT deployed individuals over five hundred times for a total of approximately 2400 days in thirty-two states: tornadoes, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, church fires, and human-caused disasters. The financial cost of these national response efforts exceeded $1.1 million. In addition to the previously described LTRG efforts, the NRT provides hosting assistance (to aid volunteers responding to disaster sites) and emotional care assistance to victims and responders. Another significant portion of our training was related to emotional care, more specifically suicide awareness and prevention. Many NRT members have completed critical incident stress management training.
The final portion of our training was related to gun violence and safety. The information provided was not an “in-your-face” faith promotion, nor was it an effort to undermine or threaten recognized Constitutional rights. The training review a film entitled “Trigger: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violence,” directed and produced by Mr. David Barnhart, who is affiliated with the PDA NRT. “Trigger” has previously aired on NBC. The film examines the lasting effect of gun violence in several different communities. It is a frank and moving discussion on a topic of timely interest.
It was a long week of intense training, but it was shared with many good friends, most of whom I only see once per year, unless we share the unfortunate need to be called to an affected community. It’s good to be back home to serve you.
NOTE: Please join Community Action and Compassionate Fernandina on Saturday, April 29, at Jasmine and 11th Streets at 8:00 AM for a neighborhood community beautification project. Join us for as long as you can to provide assistance to these residents and organizations.