CERTainly Prepared

News for Ohio CERTs from Ohio EMA

2nd Quarter 2021 | V3.1

Issue Highlights:

Q3 CERT Webinar with Rebeccah Verhoff-Kiss from ServeOhio talking about the new volunteer management platform (details below).

FEMA R2 and the American Red Cross are both offering on-going webinar series.

NCA Conference / updates.

CERT Survey Snippet #6: MAA / MOU and CERT Ops outside of host jurisdiction.

Be Red Cross Ready!

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National CERT Association Updates

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Reminder that the 2021 National CERT Conference is scheduled for July 12-17 in Missouri.

NCA may issue a call for applications for VOLUNTEER members to represent the interests of CERT Volunteers (not PMs or Coordinators) on the NCA Leadership Call.

NCA Members interested in participating on existing Work Groups (or proposing a new Work Group) can reach out to your Region 5 Representative at jdvittie@dps.ohio.gov to discuss these options.

FEMA CERT Typing

Keep an eye on the NIMS NQS (National Incident Management National Qualification System) websites!

The rollout is slated for June 2021 with FEMA and the National CERT Association hosting a joint webinar / Q&A Session.

FEMA Region 2 Webinars

FEMA Region 2 has been presenting a wide array of webinars and is planning on doing a quarterly webinar in conjunction with the National CERT Association on topics relevant to CERT Members nationwide.

Past webinars can be found HERE and upcoming webinars can be found on Region 2's homepage HERE.

Register Your Program On Ready.Gov

FEMA revamped the registration site in September 2020 and all previously registered programs were removed.

You'll need to register on the site again (use your old user name and password, if you have one).

This will allow for tracking of volunteer hours to help FEMA make the case for additional Federal funding for the CERT Program.

This registration will also allow you to request FREE manuals and printed material from FEMA directly.

[For Awareness: These requests must be approved at the state level, so email me and let me know when you've submit your application so I can follow up!]

Q3 Ohio CERT Webinar ~ July 12, 2021 at 10:00am

SPECIAL GUEST:

Rebeccah Verhoff-Kiss from ServeOhio will be on talking about the new volunteer management platform!

(Save the Date! 4th Quarter call will be at 6:00pm on Monday October 04, 2021)

3rd Quarter Log in / call in information:

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer or mobile app

Click here to join the meeting

Join with a video conferencing device

682042763@t.plcm.vc

Video Conference ID: 115 755 354 9

Alternate VTC dialing instructions

Or call in (audio only)

+1 614-721-2972,,773351250#   United States, Columbus

Phone Conference ID: 773 351 250#

Find a local number | Reset PIN

Learn More | Meeting options

Call for Materials

See the block below the CERT Survey Snippet for more details.

Your Program can be featured or share its best practices through a number of outlets:

• The CERTainly Prepared Newsletter (Ohio & beyond)
• FEMA's ICPD Individual & Community Preparedness Newsletter (National)
• The NCA Newsletter (National)
• NCA's Training Library (videos, handouts, and other locally generated material)

CERT Survey Snippet #6

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41-43 current CERT Programs in Ohio provided information on the use of their Program outside of their host jurisdiction.

While there's an almost even split among Programs that are covered by some form of MOU / MAA, it seems that many of those do not cover jurisdictions outside of their host jurisdiction.  Additionally, we see that fewer than 1/3 of Programs have actually been used outside of their host jurisdiction.

Snippet questions for you to think about:

• Is your Program covered by any Mutual Aid Agreements / Memorandum of Understanding (MAA / MOU) to formalize your Program's relationship with the host jurisdiction?
• Are there opportunities to establish MAA / MOU for your Program to provide support to neighboring jurisdictions that may have a smaller (or no) Program?
• Are there reasons that prevent cooperation with other jurisdictions outside of the host jurisdiction?  Is there an appetite to build these relationships?  Are there ways to address items of concern preventing an MAA / MOU from being implemented?

Call for articles / photos / submissions

Washington Post Newsroom - Photo (c): Tom Allen / The Washington Post

Have you ever wanted to see your name as a by-line in a state-wide newsletter?  Do you want other CERT Programs to know how amazing your Program is and your Members are?  Have you had a recent deployment or activation to share?  Do you have a policy, procedure, or guideline that's a Best Practice you want to share with the other programs in the State?

If you answered "Maybe?" or anything more concrete than that, CERTainly Prepared's editor would like to hear from you!  Send your pitch / photos / articles to jdvittie@dps.ohio.gov and maybe you'll see it in a future issue.

Also ~ there's opportunities for your articles and accomplishments to make National news as well!

FEMA publishes the Individual and Community Preparedness Newsletter ~ which multiple Ohio CERT Programs have been featured in!

The National CERT Association is planning to roll out a new national newsletter this year as well.

Ohio CERT Resources

State of Ohio CERT Coordinator | National CERT Association Region 5 Representative:

Josh D. Vittie, MPA | Ohio EMA - Planner | 1.614.799.3655 | jdvittie@dps.ohio.gov

Ohio CERT Website:

• https://www.ema.ohio.gov/CERT.aspx

FEMA CERT Website:

• https://www.ready.gov/cert

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