Over 100 people gathered at St. Matthew United Methodist Church in San Antonio for an all day Early Response Team training to prepare for deployment to the Coastal Bend. 

Early Response Teams (ERT) are specially trained teams that offer assistance soon after the disaster strikes. They generally do clean up work and tasks required to stop further damage from being done, e.g. putting tarps on damaged roofs. They might do minor repairs that help make homes habitable, but they do not do extensive repairs or reconstruction (that is the job for Long Term Recovery).   

All members of an Early Response Team are required to complete the six to seven-hour training course and must have a criminal background check. The training is done according to UMCOR guidelines and policies.

The purpose of this team training is to orient people to the special needs and situations that are common after most natural disasters. In the first few days (and sometimes weeks) following a major storm, only teams that are trained and self-contained are useful.

You can learn more about Emergency Response Teams and training here.

If you are interested in being a part of an Early Response Team, there are several trainings scheduled:

September 9, 2017
Coker UMC, San Antonio
231 E. North Loop Road
San Antonio, TX 78216

September 9, 2017
First UMC, Kingsville
230 W Kleberg Ave, 
Kingsville, TX  78363

September 16, 2017
Tarrytown UMC, Austin
2601 Exposition Blvd
Austin, TX 78703

October 7, 2017
First UMC, Austin
1201 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX 78701

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR EARLY RESPONSE TEAM TRAINING