Neighborhood Response Teams

Infographic of Neighborhood Response Teams

Neighborhood Response Teams

Neighborhood Response Teams (NRTs) is a partnership between the City and its neighborhoods to prepare for any manmade or natural disasters.

Goals

There are 6 goals for the NRTs:

  1. Divide the City into 8 sectors with approximately 7 to 8 neighborhoods within each sector.
    • Each sector is headed by a sector captain and co-captain who are the primary contacts. (See NRT Contact Information for street listings and sector captain and co-captain information.)
  2. Work with neighborhood associations and existing groups such as Neighborhood Watch to organize the neighborhood in the event of an man-made or natural disaster and to create neighborhood sustainability and self-sufficiency for as long as possible (at least 72 hours after a disaster strikes).
  3. Identify neighborhood residents with knowledge, skills, and abilities that could be used in a disaster, and develop the capacity to call upon and utilize such individuals.
  4. Identify material resources and supplies within each neighborhood such as generators, 4-wheel drive vehicles, chain saws, equipment, etc.
  5. Identify elderly, disabled, or at-risk individuals who will require assistance in each neighborhood and develop a plan to assist and care for such individuals until help arrives.
  6. Develop a communication system and phone tree between the Emergency Command and Control and sectors, as well as within each sector and neighborhood.

Citizens Corp

In 2003, the City of Williamsburg responded to both a federal and state initiative, known as "Citizen Corp". As part of a local adaptation of this initiative, neighborhood volunteers were recruited, in partnership with the city, to develop a coordinated neighborhood response system. The headings below describe this initiative on the federal, state, and local levels.

Citizen Corps is a federal initiative under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which brings together all levels of government and local volunteers to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and any other manmade or natural disasters. This incorporates programs such as:

  • Community Emergency Response Team Training
  • Medical Reserve Corps
  • Neighborhood Watch
  • Volunteers in Police Service

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

This is a nationally recognized training with a certificate that involves:

  • Disaster medical operations
  • Fire safety
  • First aid/cardiopulmonary resuscitation/automated external defibrillator
  • Hands-on training for disaster preparedness
  • Light search and rescue
  • Terrorism

Participants will also have the opportunity to network with other trained volunteers in their neighborhoods in preparation for a natural or man-made disaster.

Register

For more information and/or to register, please call 757-220-6220.

Or email Beth Eberhardt at eeberhardt@williamsburgva.gov

Training slots are still available for any city residents, age 18 or older. Sign up for Williamsburg CERT Basic Training. Next class will be in the fall of 2023.