First Assignments

On 2/19, we were assigned to our permanent FEMA Corps teams—the ones we will be spending the next 9 months with. There are nine people on our team, including the Team Leader (who is coincidentally also named after the Beatles song "Julia").

Our team task is Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA). This means we will get trained to go door-to-door after disasters to register survivors; it also means we will be one of the first teams called upon to deploy after a disaster (which means lots of traveling!) When we are not on a disaster site, we will be in schools and educating the public about natural disasters.

Since we have received our groups and tasks, I thought I’d list a few of the important trainings we’ve received thus far to prepare us for the upcoming jobs:

• Restoring communities after disasters

• Adapting to diversity

• Driving a 15-passenger van (+ winter driving)

• How to effectively & responsibly use social media

• CPR and First Aid certifications

• Cooking for large groups

• Conflict resolution

• Rights for government workers

When we get to our first job site, we will receive training more specific to DSA. The next exciting event will be choosing Team Roles. Every person on every team will have a role. From meal planning to leading physical training to fleet maintenance, there are a nice variety of roles that will give everyone the chance to take on a leadership position.