Get Involved
In addition to Neighborhood Watch, there are many ways to Get Involved, especially before an emergency or a disaster occurs. The content found on this page will give you some ideas of how you can take action in your community.
- Join a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program and get trained on basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations.
- You Are the Help Until Help Arrives, designed by FEMA, are trainings that can be taken online or in-person, where you learn through simple steps how to save a life before a professional arrives.
- During a disaster donate to a reputable organization of your choice through the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD), and volunteer to respond to disasters and help your fellow Americans.
- Volunteer and receive training to support disaster and preparedness efforts in your community.
- Teach preparedness curriculum in your school. Download everything you need for grades K-12 through our Ready Kids program.
- Promote preparedness online by sharing preparedness tips on your social media account with Ready’s online social media toolkit or public service announcements.
- Take a free online independent study course through FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute and gain more knowledge to help your community become more prepared.
Until Help Arrives
You Are the Help Until Help Arrives (Until Help Arrives), designed by FEMA, are trainings that can be taken online or in-person, where participants learn to take action and, through simple steps, potentially can save a life before professional help arrives. The program encourages the public to take these five steps when there is an emergency.
- Call 9-1-1;
- Protect the injured from harm;
- Stop bleeding;
- Position the injured so they can breathe; and
- Provide comfort.
Additional Opportunities
Wood County Emergency Communications, Inc. (WCEC) is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, created to provide back-up and overload communications to all Public Safety agencies in Wood County, West Virginia and the surrounding counties in West Virginia and Ohio. While most of the members are licensed radio amateurs (hams), a ham license is not a requirement to join and be involved in their community service activities. They also provide frequent one-day classes to help you obtain your ham license in just one day. Read more in their Mission Statement to see what they do. For more information on Emergency Communicators and Amateur Radio read their “Who Are We?” article.
Here are some links to additional information at ready.gov.