Disaster Emergency Response Team meets with Dallas leadership
Christ UMC, Plano, brought the church's Disaster Response trailer as an educational display.
Representatives from the Christ UMC, Plano, Disaster Emergency Response Team (DERT) joined counterparts throughout the area for the fi rstever gathering on April 1 at the Dallas Convention Center. Christ UMC DERT met with City of Dallas Emergency Management, Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire-Rescue Department and "DOWNTOWNDALLAS."
DERT is a unique public-private partnership created to improve communication between business organizations and public safety departments before disaster strikes.
DERT brings together city officials, building owners and managers, security professionals and other planners from the private and not-for-profit sectors to deal with special challenges posed by potential disasters and emergencies.
Whether it is a circumstance of nature, like a tornado or flood, or a terrorist attack, each potential threat poses the need for a carefully planned response.
DERT is a component of ‘DOWNTOWN DALLAS' public safety efforts. The April 1 event included the unveiling of USP3, Dallas' new DERT communication tool.
The Department of Homeland Security has recognized DERT and asked the group to develop a template of its program that can be used by other cities throughout the nation. In addition, the Government Accountability Office has included the DERT project in an audit of best practices in disaster response planning.
April Kendrick, member of Christ UMC. Plano, said that her group was pleased with what they experienced.
Kendrick said, "Our main goal was to let government organizations and other disaster responders know who we are and what we do - and not just our church, but the North Texas Conference in general. We had many people stop by the table to not just thank us for what we do, but also to inquire how their companies or churches can get involved."
She notes that the Christ UMC DERT team is available to help other NTC congregations set up a team of their own, or, church members can be linked with other teams.
Kendrick adds that, "One member of First UMC Dallas called us the 'best kept secret in the conference' because although he was a member of the Victim Relief Service, he had no idea our Conference provided disaster relief."
For information on NTC Disaster Relief programming, please call Rev. Marji Bishir, 972-526-5036 or 800-969-8201, or e-mail: bishir@ntcumc.org.
For more information on the Christ UMC DERT Team, e-mail April Kendrick, starsfan2056@yahoo.com.
