13 trained to form disaster-response teams

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Thirteen United Methodists learned last month how to prepare church members for service on Early Disaster Response Teams.
The 13 attended the Sept. 29-30 “Train the Trainer” workshop at Jefferson UMC, San Antonio.
Barbara Tripp, United Methodist Committee on Relief consultant from North Carolina, led the training course. It featured in-depth instruction to show attendees how to become trainers and build Early Disaster Response Teams within the Southwest Texas Conference.
The session officially certified participants to train other potential members of early response teams, said Susan Hellums, conference Volunteers in Mission coordinator. That certification is good for four years.
Early Response Teams aren’t the first responders to disasters, Hellums said. But they are called in during an early stages of relief.
Tripp said the teams have four purposes: removing debris, cleaning out homes, protecting houses from further damage and providing information to local authorities about people left in their homes as well as information about recovery options to residents who choose to stay.
Jim Callaway, president of the McAllen District United Methodist Men, noted that the early-response teams don’t rebuild damaged areas.
“Our goal is to go into a disaster area and see to it that more harm does not come to churches and buildings and homes,” he said. “If a roof is open, we close it. If a street is blocked to a home, we clear the trees.”
Still, teams must be trained to use tools, tarp roofs and even listen, Callaway said.
The relief committee recommends that 6 to 12 certified members serve on an early-response team but also suggests that teams recruit three times as many people. That’s because at the time of any disaster occurrence, about half the people on the team will be unavailable.
Callaway said that having 13 trainers throughout the Southwest Texas Conference could build a greater pool of team members.
He and Tom Hellums, another certified trainer from McAllen, plan to visit churches in the McAllen District to offer to teach the eight-hour early-response certification course.
Callaway said he hoped the initiative would ignite the interest of United Methodist Men.
“I think this is something the men would buy into,” Callaway said. “We need something to hang our hat on, something that interests men, something to make men feel like they’re doing something constructive.”
Yet the teams serve an even greater purpose, Calloway added.
“As Christians, we’re called to help those who need help, whether they’re members of our church or not,” Calla-way said. “This is a Christlike act.”