Area (Stake) Emergency Leadership Roles

Identify all CERT trained persons within the Area boundaries.   With the help of Stake and Ward Leaders, recruit individuals to take CERT training. Maintain a CERT cache of supplies at the Stake Center and a small cache at each Ward building, including a sufficient supply of forms. Hold annual training meetings with CERT team members.  Train them to report to their respective staging areas when a disaster happens.

You should ensure that Stake clerks and the Executive Secretary become acquainted with the methods for recording and tracking events and actions. Disaster documentation is a very valuable reference after a situation has been resolved, but it can also save lives during the actual emergency response. It is not uncommon for rescue teams to become ‘lost’ if they are not tracked, thus exacerbating an already difficult situation.

Report to the Area Staging area and see that an Incident Commander is in place and taking charge. Using the Communications center and reports from Block Captains, coordinate between Neighborhood staging area Incident Commanders and distribute team personnel and logistic resources as needed.  Make sure any relocation of team members is recorded. 

The Area Captain (or the acting Area Captain) should do the following as quickly as possible following a widespread emergency:

1. Take care of his own family's needs first.
2. Display the appropriate signal card at his residence.
3. Go to the Stake office at the Stake Center building to receive communications, reports, requests for resources from Bishops (Neighborhood Captains).
4. Report Stake damage assessment and requests for resources to Area Communications Coordinator to be reported to the Orem Emergengcy Operations Center and to the LDS Church Area Communications Center
5. Allocate Stake resources.
6. Coordinate assignments of stake leaders in response to requests from Neighborhood Captains.