OEM Volunteers Make Year-Round Contribution
Often defined by the assistance they provide in major emergencies and, as in the case of February's blizzard, commended publically for it, the more numerous, mundane, day-to-day contributions by the more than 300 members of the Kane County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) volunteer program tend to go largely unnoticed and generally unheralded.
Within the OEM, however, expressions of appreciation are never in short supply, according to OEM director Don Bryant. "There are a lot of different ways internally that we recognize the efforts," said Bryant. "And we always say, 'thank you'" - with good reason.
"Our volunteers are the heart of our operation. They are our 'boots on the ground.' They are our representatives in the field. They do a lot of public education. They help our communities in ways ranging from traffic management to assisting with ongoing programs and activities within the communities," he said.
"While they are involved with the community, at the community level, most of what we do is behind the scenes, so the volunteers don't really get the recognition for all the effort they put in until there's an incident like the blizzard," said Bryant.
Among other things, OEM volunteers literally provide Kane County with its early warning mechanism in times of potentially severe weather. "They go out and do weather spotting. Most are National Weather Service-certified spotters, and they're out there a lot right now," said Bryant.
"In 2010 our volunteers collectively donated over 8,000 hours and responded to 94 local emergencies on everything from weather spotting and assisting the Sheriff's Office and other local jurisdictions to taking care of our on-going maintenance and administration matters," he said. Bryant said there is very careful tracking of the volunteer hours "so we can look at the contributions and demonstrate what these volunteers are doing for our communities...at relatively no cost to the County." They're out there doing a lot of stuff, providing a lot of services at various levels, all over the County," he said.
In his 2010 annual report to the County Board, Bryant said the volunteer corps is comprised of 309 members, including 60 "operational" members, 42 regular members in the Medical Reserve Corps, 65 in orientation and 142 in its Nurse Registry. Including the director, OEM has just three paid employees.
"I believe we're one of the most active volunteer groups in the Chicago region. We're probably the largest within the seven counties that make northeastern Illinois, and the busiest, based on what we do and the level of participation within our communities. With the economy the way it is, these volunteers are being used more and more to augment paid public safety staff," said Bryant.
Kane's OEM volunteers come in all shapes and sizes, men and women, and run the gamut of occupations, educational background and interests. They include a few 18-year-olds "who are just starting out," said Bryant, as well as many 50 and 60-year-olds. Membership is "predominantly men, but we've gotten better over the years recruiting women," he said. "When I started here in 1994 it was nearly all men. Now we have about 15 to 20 women that are involved directly in the response aspects of our work. So we're gaining and also getting more couples."
An application and review process is required to join the group. Members must be at least 18 years old and live in Kane County or no more than five miles from its borders. The application form is on the OEM website. Membership is open year-round.
"They have to do a six-week orientation and certain training, followed by a six-month probationary period during which they have to show a certain level of participation, so many calls, so many details," said Bryant. Each applicant is subjected to a fingerprint background check during the probation period.
In addition to being volunteers, the OEM members also are donors.
"They buy their own uniforms. They buy their own gasoline and, in fact, contribute quite a bit to our on-going needs. If we need to replace lights in a truck, for example, they might just go out and buy it themselves and put it in," said Bryant. "So, they're donors as well."
During the orientation process, recruits are introduced to each of the various divisions within OEM and given the option to specialize, if they choose, in specific areas like vehicle maintenance, communications or search and rescue, for example. "They're encouraged to do that," said Bryant.
In addition to its regular members, OEM maintains a resource directory of volunteer groups, such as HAM radio operators, snowmobile clubs, equestrian and canine organizations, that are called on to assist regular volunteers in specific cases. "During major disaster events, we're prepared to activate spontaneous volunteers who step forward to offer to support services," said Bryant. "We won't use them in critical areas but we will in a support role. Church groups are a prime example of people who will come and want to help."
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