Volunteers begin training for handling a disaster

By Jordan Cohen

NILES — This month marks the 23rd anniversary of the 1985 tornado that devastated parts of Niles, Newton Falls and Hubbard.

The Volunteer Services Agency has established a location for volunteers to organize, should a similar disaster strike.

That place is the Eastwood YMCA on Youngstown Road, which has been designated a Volunteer Reception Center. The facility was chosen because of its size and its capabilities that include showers and adequate room for beds for volunteers who would have to be housed during an emergency.

“This is a place and a process,” said Lucinda Sentner, Medical Service Corps coordinator for Trumbull County. “This is where everyone will be processed and trained, and where they’ll report to be bused to the location of a disaster.”

Nearly 20 volunteers gathered Thursday for a four-hour orientation and training session at the YMCA. They practiced the registration process, which is seen as critical for keeping volunteers organized and assigning the right people for any needs that arise.

“We have this place and this training so that we don’t have a disaster within a disaster,” said Cathy Genaro, a Niles Health Department registered nurse.

Volunteers are divided into two groups: “Just-in-Time (JIT)” volunteers who are not associated with any particular response agency, and the Medical Service Corps, whose volunteers are licensed professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and emergency medical technicians. Genaro said the corps does not have enough local volunteers.

“We desperately need more physicians, and don’t forget veterinarians,” Genaro said. “Animals have to be cared for, too.”

One volunteer who has plenty of experience with disasters is Jim Carano of Boardman, a retired industrial hygienist from the Air Force Base in Vienna. Carano, who specializes in shelter management, volunteered to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The 73-year old Carano said that he and his fellow retirees could constitute a large and valuable volunteer resource. The two groups of volunteers are not first responders and some may never go to a disaster site. Karl Roach, project coordinator for the Volunteer Services Agency, said some of the JIT people could work in the reception center in such positions as registration, communications, data entry and transportation.

“The key is training,” Roach said. “We need people with commitment to train so that we’re ready.”

In addition to the YMCA, the agency is considering the Moose Lodge in Mecca as another potential Volunteer Reception Center. A similar orientation meeting will be held there later this year.

“This is when we have to work out the kinks,” Roach said. “Planning and practice are essential for us to be effective when we’re needed most.”

People interested in becoming JIT volunteers can contact Karl Roach at (330) 782-5877. Licensed medical professionals interested in volunteering should contact Lucinda Sentner at (330) 675-7818.