The Presbytery of East Tennessee

  1. Preparedness
    1. Steps to Take Prior to a Disaster
      1. Establish a Disaster Response Team (Team) to respond to disasters and to lead preparedness and mitigation efforts. As a minimum, the Team should consist of the following members:
        1. Director - responsible for leadership and coordination of the Team activities and the recruitment and training of other Team members.
        2. Field Workers-trained to move directly into locations where a disaster has occuredto counsel survivors, assess damage, and provide immediate relief as needed.
        3. Advisors-people with specific knowledge, skills, and abilities who can assist the Presbytery and the Team in, executing the Disaster Response Plan.
      2. Develop a Directory of Disaster Response Contacts (Directory) that includes contact information for Presbytery personnel, each active pastor or interim, each clerk of session, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance personnel, and members of the Team. The Directory should include such information as home and office telephones, cellular telephone numbers, pager numbers, and e-mail addresses as available and a procedure should be developed for keeping this information current.
      3. Make copies of the Directory available to all contacts included in the Directory.
      4. Establish procedures for activating the Team when a disaster is imminent or when an unexpected disaster has occurred and make copies of this procedure to all individuals in the Directory.
      5. Develop a listing of resources available for planning, mitigation and response to disasters.
      6. Share the Disaster Response Plan with the with the Synod and General Assembly offices, the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and with key people in other ecumenical organizations active in disaster relief, the American Red Cross, and other Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs).
      7. Identify training requirements for members of the Team and facilitate their obtaining this training.
    2. Steps to Take When a Disaster is Imminent
      1. Activate the Team.
      2. Establish an Emergency Communications Center, possibly at the Presbytery Office, that will be ready to receive calls and serve as headquarters for the Team as soon as the disaster has passed.
      3. Use the Directory contact information to contact each individual or organization using a "calling tree" approach, warning pastors and churches of the imminent disaster, and suggesting preparation steps to take to minimize damage.
      4. Instruct each pastor and clerk to respond immediately after the disaster with a preliminary estimate of damage to his or her home, church, and neighborhood. Provide cell phone and pager numbers, or amateur radio contacts for the Team Director and Presbytery office for alternative ways of reporting back as needed.
      5. Contact any local interfaith disaster response network or VOAD about its plans to respond to the imminent disaster.
      6. Prepare yourself, your family, your Church, and your home to weather the disaster in the best way possible.
      7. Contact the PDA office in Louisville for any last minute instructions and plans for assistance after the disaster strikes.
  2. Response
    1. Immediately After a Disaster
      1. Activate the Team.
      2. If not established prior to the disaster, establish an Emergency Communications Center, possibly at the Presbytery Office, to receive calls and serve as headquarters for the Team.
      3. Using the Directory contact information and a “calling tree" approach, contact pastors and churches to obtain preliminary estimates of personal injury and damage to homes, church, and neighborhoods. Provide cell phone and pager numbers, or amateur radio contacts for the Team Director and Presbytery officials for alternative Ways for them to report back if needed.
      4. Contact the Red Cross and any VOADs in the area to obtain additional information about the extent of the disaster and the coordination of the team effort.
      5. Make additional contact with churches and pastors in the disaster area to see if they"~ are in need of help and if they are able to offer help.
      6. Develop a preliminary assessment of the damages and define potential assistance efforts.
      7. Assign Team members to do more detailed assessments and planning for responses.
      8. Develop a report of damages and planned responses for Presbytery.
      9. Inform Presbyterian Disaster Assistance at the General Assembly offices of the disaster and the magnitude of the damage.
      10. Encourage local Presbyterian pastors and churches to show leadership in developing local or regional disaster recovery efforts.
      11. Activate the Disaster Finance Committee mad disperse funds as appropriate.
    2. Long-Term Response and Recovery
      1. The Team Director will be responsible for making recommendations to Presbytery for long-term involvement in response and recovery activities. This may include:
        1. Assigning of members of the Team to work with VOADs and local Interfaith recovery groups.
        2. Assigning members of the Team to represent the Presbytery with other organizations, such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
        3. Encouraging local Presbyterian churches to host volunteer work teams and coordinating the efforts of these volunteers.
      2. Provide reports of funds that have been disbursed by the Disaster Finance Committee and determine when this committee is no longer needed for this particular disaster.
  3. Mitigation
    1. The Team will encourage mitigation or vulnerability reduction in churches and facilities in Presbytery as follows:
      1. Local congregations and Presbytery-related institutions will be encouraged to identify hazards in their buildings and communities, establish evacuation plans, make buildings as safe and hazard-free as possible.
      2. Members of local congregations will be encouraged to mitigate against hazards in their home in a similar sense as for churches.
    2. Presbytery workgroups engaged in debris clearing or housing repair will be encouraged to work safely and take natural and technological hazards into consideration.
    3. Presbytery will ensure that all new construction, repair, renovation or rebuilding of buildings related to the Presbytery reflects the hazard reduction measures possible.
    4. Presbytery will seek to support legislation and mitigation projects within the Presbytery's geographic relating to know vulnerabilities and environmental hazards.
  4. Exercise and Evaluation
    1. The Disaster Response Plan should be tested or exercised on a periodic basis to evaluate the effectiveness of each element of the Plan.
    2. Following each time of testing and also following each time that the Plan is activated and used in a real situation, a critical analysis debriefing of the event or exercise should be performed to identify any Plan improvements or modifications.
  5. Other Considerations
    1. After a disaster has taken place, the Presbytery is likely to receive donations from both individuals and from Churches who want to give directly to those managing the recovery efforts. These contributors will expect the Presbytery to direct these funds in the most immediately helpful ways. Additionally, the Presbytery may be the recipient of other funding from other sources.
    2. The Disaster Response Plan of the Presbytery of East Tennessee hereby establishes a Disaster Finance Committee consisting of the following: The General Presbyter; The treasurer of the Presbytery; The Moderator of the General Council; the Chair of the Finance Committee of Council; and the Director of the Presbytery, and the Team Director.
    3. The Disaster Finance Committee will ordinarily be dormant at all times except when the Disaster Response Plan is activated. When the Plan is activated, this committee will function, and will have the full authority of the Presbytery to both receive and disburse money and other resources. The committee will be able to promptly address situations in which it finds families with immediate unmet need.
    4. The committee will work in collaboration with other agencies, and care will be taken so that eligibility for funding from such sources as the American Red Cross, FEMA, and insurance settlements might not be jeopardized. The authority of the Disaster Finance Committee in such matters shall be equivalent to that of an Administrative Commission and an act of the committee shall be considered an act of the governing body.

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Presbyterian Disaster Assistance