EMA Damage Assessment Training September 24, 2018

Lawrence County EMA Director, Mike Boster, has scheduled a class for Damage Assessment for Individual Assistance. This is the class offered by the Ohio EMA and is a FEMA class with certification. The class will be Monday, September 24th, from 6:00 pm til about 9:00 pm. You must register on the Ohio EMA Training site to take the class. I will forward information on registering as soon as the Ohio EMA has it on the published schedule.

This class will cover types and extent of damage, and how to report it. This very important for ARES members to have knowledge so we can accurately report damage to the EMA. These initial damage assessments are used by the EMA and Red Cross to determine what additional resources may be needed in the county. Amateur Radio is one of the first disaster recovery groups to go into the field. We can be a valuable asset by just looking around and reporting accurately what we see.

Earlier this summer ARES was activated in the Youngstown area to do this type of damage assessment. This will also be important training for our upcoming SET exercise in October.

Please contact me if you have any questions. You can register on ARES Connect to get credit for your training hours. Thanks for all you do for our community.

Eddie Jenkins, N8URU

ARES EC, Lawrence County Ohio