Emergency Response Team – Safety Service Corps
Change your world, change your life! Spend a year assisting disaster affected communities, fighting wildfires, and conserving natural resources with a team of young people committed to making a difference. In our country the frequency of natural disasters has doubled in the last decade, and the threat of man-made disasters has increased; yet, most citizens are still unprepared when disaster strikes.
The AmeriCorps St. Louis Emergency Response Team (ERT) is making real advances in both disaster preparedness and response. The ERT is a multi-functional rapid deployment group that has been called out nationally to floods, NASA search and rescue, ice storms, terrorist attacks, tornadoes, wildfires, and hurricanes. When not involved in disaster response or preparedness activities, the ERT assists the Missouri Departments of Conservation and Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and National Park Service with trail maintenance, habitat restoration, and other natural resource projects.
All ERT Corps Members will receive an intensive orientation including: physical conditioning, team building and leadership skills, introduction to disaster services, operations in hazardous environments, supporting people in crisis, risk management approaches, Incident Command System, emergency communications, and basic emergency medical care. For nearly two decades, AmeriCorps St. Louis has a proven history of providing highly successful programs, partnerships, and trainings, making it a model to other programs around the state and country. ERT operates in conjunction with the AmeriCorps St. Louis Education Corps and together have 80 Members who come from all over the country to create our tightly knit community.
Member Duties: Members of the Emergency Response Team must be in excellent physical condition, including being able to pass the "pack test," a 3 mile walk with a 45 lbs pack completed in under 45 minutes. Members must have the ability to function as supportive and dependable teammates, even in times of extreme stress and adversity. A love for the outdoors is a must as ERT Members spend most of their service out of town, living in community and often sleeping in rustic conditions.
On any given day, an AmeriCorps St. Louis Emergency Response Team Member could:
- Provide immediate and long-term relief in areas affected by natural disasters
- Restore Missouri forests, river-ways, and recreation areas
- FIght forest fires or participate in prescribed burns
- Use GPS mapping equipment to create guides to Missouri trails
- Coordinate Volunteers to Assist Disaster Affected communities
