National CERT Association Letter Update!

Posted bySamantha Dale VaughnPosted inInformation

Hello NCA members,

This is a quick CERT update for November 1, 2022.

Topics in this email include:

·        NCA Election Results

·        Volunteer Florida puts a call out for volunteers to help with Hurricane Ian recovery efforts

·        CERTCon 2022 in DC

·        2023 National CERT Conference Update

·        North American Vehicle Rescue Association

NCA Election Results

The results are in!  Here are the Board members for the Group B officers which will run until the elections in 2024”

·        Regio 1 Representative:  David McEnery (new)

·        Region 2 Representative:  Joseph Pupello (incumbent)

·        Region 3 Representative: Jeffrey Katz (new)

·        Region 4 Representative:  Samantha Royster (incumbent)

·        Region 5 Representative:  Josh Vittie (incumbent)

·        Region 6 Representative:  Joe Parungao (Incumbent)

·        Region 7 Representative:  Tina Brown (incumbent)

·        Region 8 Representative:  Douglas Meikle (new)

·        Region 10 Representative:  Celso Rangel (incumbent)

Subject matter experts will be added after the next Board meeting on November 10, 2022 to round out the board.

We want to thank everyone who ran in 2022.  Remember, the NCA is what we all make of it, and everyone that is in good standing with their local and State CERT coordinators are eligible to run for board positions.

Volunteer Florida calls for CERT teams to assist hurricane Ian

Florida is on the forefront of CERT and using CERT for disaster response and recovery efforts.  In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Volunteer Florida, the State Service Commission and lead for CERT, has put a call out for CERT teams to assist with donations management.  This is exciting as the NCA, in partnership with the California Office of Emergency Services, is developing a CERT Donations Management Support Training module.  If you are in Florida and are interested in responding to this request, please contact Tommy Cleversy at Volunteer Florida.  Please remember never to self-deploy.  If you are interested in learning more about how CERT supported hurricane Ian response and recovery efforts, please reach out to Tommy (give him a few months).  I’m sure Tommy will be happy to present on this experience at the 2023 National CERT Conference.

CERTCon2022

If you live near Alexandria, VA, the Capitol Region CERT Consortium is holding their eleventh annual CERT Conference on Friday, November 18 to Sunday, November 20, 2022.  This in-person event is open to everyone and will provided advanced education and hands-on disaster preparedness training.  Learn more about this event at https://www.certcon.org.

2023 National CERT Conference

The 2023 National CERT Conference Planning team visited 11 potential venues for the 2023 conference in San Jose, South San Francisco, Oakland, Long Beach, and San Diego.  This conference will provide more training opportunities than ever.  While this conference will follow the traditional 2.5 day conference pre by 3 days of pre-conference training, the planning team is hoping to be able to offer enough options during pre-conference training that a majority of conference attendees will be opt to attend for a full 5.5 days.  If you haven’t signed up for the 2023 National CERT Conference email list, you can do so here:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2023CERTConferenceEmailList

North American Vehicle Rescue Association

Fire Captain Stephen Martell, President and CEO of the North American Vehicle Rescue Association (NAVRA) asked me to share some information about their event.  NAVRA is a non-profit organization whose focus is on training firefighters and Emergency Service Workers in USA and Canada.  NAVRA hosts training events for Fire Departments across the US and Canada as well as Rescue challenges across the country and is a part of the World Rescue Organization (wrescue.org).  Their next Rescue event will be in south Florida, and they are inviting attendees from all across the US.  Please see the attached flyer for more information.  If any fire departments are interested in joining NAVRA or want more information, please contact Captain Stephen Martell at smartell@navraus.org. 

You can download flyers for NAVRA and their upcoming event here:  NAVRA

Volunteers needed

The NCA needs members who are willing to assist with these duties:

·        NCA Newsletter lead

·        NCA website updates lead

·        NCA Resource Library Lead

If you have lots of spare time and would like to help with these two vital functions, please let us know at info@nationalcert.org

Thank you for your support of the National CERT Association

certcon-2022-flierDownload

Published by Samantha Dale Vaughn

Hi! My name is Sam! I am the owner of I Call Sam LLC. I serve as the Public Information Officer (PIO) for Sleeper & Stoutland Volunteer Fire Departments. I was recently appointed to the Stoutland Volunteer Fire Department Board of Directors. I hold a general class amateur radio license, call sign KE0LMY. I served as the Director of Camden County, MO Emergency Management Agency from August 2, 2022 through January 24, 2025 and the PIO of the Camden County, MO CERT. I served as the Deputy Director of Camden County, MO EMA from July 12, 2020 through August 2, 2022. I served as the Deputy Director of Benton County, MO EMA from February 18, 2018 through July 31, 2022. I served as the PIO of Warsaw Fire Protection District from October 18, 2017 through July 31, 2022.

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