Okaloosa County forms citizen corps

Okaloosa County has joined forces with Santa Rosa and Walton counties to form a tri-county Citizen Corp. Citizen Corp is a federally funded program under Homeland Security that creates opportunities for individuals to volunteer to help their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies by bringing together local leaders, citizen volunteers and the network of first responders.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush has launched the USA Freedom Corps initiative to inspire and enable all Americans to find ways to serve their community, their country or the world. Citizen Corp is the component of USA Freedom Corps that directly relates to emergency preparedness. The goal of the program is to have all citizens participate in making their communities safer, stronger, and better prepared for preventing and handling threats of terrorism, crime and disasters of all kinds.
Core to the program is the development of Citizen Corp Councils at the local level. Okaloosa County’s council is currently comprised of approximately 20 members representing local emergency management, law enforcement, fire, EMS and the Health Department. The primary objectives of the Council is to match the needs of first responders with the skills and abilities of volunteers; educate the public on safety; spearhead efforts to offer citizens volunteer opportunities and to promote all citizen corps programs across the community.
Community assistance can be crucial during a major disaster. These types of crisis can overload the capability of first responders, especially during the first 12 to 72 hours of the response. Per capita, there is only one firefighter for every 280 people, one sworn officer for every 385 people and one EMT/paramedic for every 325 people. Having citizens who are better prepared to take care of themselves and others will allow first responders to focus efforts on the most critical, life-threatening situations.
“In 95 percent of all emergencies, bystanders or victims themselves are the first to provide emergency assistance. We are trying to give members of the community the tools to best cope with these situations. When individuals are trained and prepared for emergencies, it puts the control back in their hands,” says Okaloosa County Emergency Management Chief Randy McDaniel. “The more we can equip our citizens the fewer victims we will have. It’s just like any mitigation; we are trying to intercede before situations become even bigger disasters.”

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