By Kate Walters

As The Red Cross gears up for the approaching hurricane season, building a team of volunteers with specialized training has become particularly crucial. In the midst of the ongoing American Red Cross response to the flooding in East Texas, local Red Cross volunteers from other service areas of expertise are taking special training, learning to utilize the Red Cross interactive damage assessment tool, Survey 123. This is a mobile app that can be loaded onto a smart phone and then used to collect disaster assessment data in the field.

“We invited volunteers from nearby chapters, essentially everyone from every department in the area.” Says Madison Lawrence, Deputy Assistant Director of Information & Planning.  “We let them know that we were going to offer a course about how to go out in the field and collect data that categorizes the level of damage in areas affected by disaster.” The most immediate need is to support the relief efforts after current flooding disaster on the Texas Gulf Coast. However, Survey123 is adaptable and can be utilized for any type of disaster in any geographical location.

The trainees needed to come prepared with some online training under their belt. And that’s exactly what 11 Red Cross volunteers did before they attended the in-person training last Saturday. One trainee, Mayra Valdes-Zavala says, “We learned how to use the app and it wasn’t difficult at all. I can see now how important it is to record accurate details so we can help people in need. I’ll definitely be on call this summer.”

Considering the current local flooding, instructors were deliberate in their training approach. They aimed to equip new disaster assessors with skills to communicate crucial information back to headquarters via the app. This information is then compiled so that the Red Cross can pinpoint specific areas that are in need of supplies such as food, water, and clean-up kits. After the 4-hour training, volunteers left officially enrolled and fully prepared to venture into the field to gather data. They are now equipped to go out into the field as early as tomorrow.

There is still a need to add individuals to the team of trained damage assessment volunteers. “We’d love to get more trainees, especially from other lines of service or just other people that are on the current disaster operation who may be interested in and have the time to go through the training.”

The Disaster Assessment volunteer’s primary responsibility is collecting information in the field to answer relief operation leadership’s critical information requirements. These requirements are different for each disaster. Many of the questions asked by leadership can be answered using third-party information. When the picture this information provides is incomplete, or missing, disaster assessment workers deploy to answer those questions and collect the needed information.

 If you are interested in training to become an American Red Cross volunteer in your area or on a national deployment, please go to RedCross.Org/Volunteer to get started.