Registration - 8:00AM to 8:30AM
Instruction - 8:30AM to 4:30PM

Click Here to Register

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 eight hour training course and must have a current background check.  The ERT training is done according to UMCOR guidelines and policies.  The background check is completed prior to training through Safe Gatherings/Trusted con Confianza training and certification process.  As long as your background check is current, you can attend the ERT training.  If not, you can complete the training and background check by going HERE before your ERT class.  Persons completing the training and passing the background check are issued a badge indicating they are approved by the Rio Texas Conference and credentialed by UMCOR for three years. 

An Early Response Team is a special type of VIM Team

An Early Response Team has a very narrow function and has no management or administrative responsibility for the overall disaster response. An “Early Response Team” should not be confused with a Disaster Recovery Team. An Early Response Team is a specially trained and certified team called to do early response. A Disaster Recovery Team is a type of UMVIM Team that comes to assist in the long term recovery, AFTER early response is completed. Each Early Response Team member must be trained and carry an identification badge reissued by UMCOR following successful completion of Early Response Team Training.

ABOUT THE ERT TRAINING

Registration - 8:00 a.m.

Training - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The class will cover the purpose of an Early Response Team:
• To show that the church cares about what has happened to the people,
• To assist the most vulnerable populations with their immediate needs, and
• To provide assistance that will help to prevent further damage to homes and property.

The class will also cover team member responsibilities, how to equip a team, how to prevent further damage (the four basic jobs), and more.

Training will be included for:
• Tarping, mucking/gutting, salvaging
• Tools/Equipment Set-up
• Team member safety
Cost: $30.00

This includes:
• Training Resources Manual
• Identification Badge
• Rio Texas Conference Early Response Team (ERT) T-shirt
• Lunch

Click Here to Register

Chain Saw training is an advanced training for Early Response Team members. A special credential will be issued by the Conference Disaster Response Committee to participants who successfully complete the training.

Click Here to register for Chain Saw Training

Participants will be expected to provide their own steel toed shoes and approved gloves.  The cost of training will include the purchase of an approved chainsaw helmet, which will be provided at the time of training. The Conference will provide chaps as well as saws and other equipment. Registration is open but priority will be given to those who have current ERT credentials. Those with out-of-date credentials or who have not yet taken ERT training will be accepted on a space available basis but will not receive chain saw credentials until they receive current ERT Credentials.  

Rio Texas Conference Chain Saw Protocols

Chain Saw Certification is done by the Rio Texas Conference. The following protocols are established relative to chain saw operation by Early Response Teams. 

1. Only certified chain saw operators may operate chain saws.
2. A current ERT Badge is required in order to be certified as a chain saw operator. 
3. Chain saw operators must be at least 18 years old. (This is the minimum age for ERT members.)
4. Chain saw operators must complete the conference chain saw training including the following elements:
   a. Classroom instruction in chain saw safety, maintenance, operation and cutting
   procedures.
   b. Field demonstrations of chainsaw operation and cutting procedures by qualified instructors.
   c. Hands on instruction for volunteers in chainsaw operation and cutting procedures. 
5. Operators must use all personal protective equipment including helmet, ear protection, eye protection, steel toed shoes, protective chaps, and approved gloves when operating a chain saw.
6. Only Conference owned or approved chain saws may be used. 
7. A Permission to Enter Property and Liability Waiver must be signed by the property owner before a chain saw crew can work on a site.
8. Each chain saw operator must sign a Liability Waiver before deploying on a chain saw team.
9. Each chain saw crew must have a designated safety officer who will monitor safety procedures on the work site.
10. Chain saw crews must abide by all ERT protocols adopted by the Conference Disaster Response Committee.

Click Here to register for Chain Saw Training

Registration - 8:00AM to 8:30AM
Instruction - 8:30AM to 4:30PM

Click Here to Register

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 eight hour training course and must have a current background check.  The ERT training is done according to UMCOR guidelines and policies.  The background check is completed prior to training through Safe Gatherings/Trusted con Confianza training and certification process.  As long as your background check is current, you can attend the ERT training.  If not, you can complete the training and background check by going HERE before your ERT class.  Persons completing the training and passing the background check are issued a badge indicating they are approved by the Rio Texas Conference and credentialed by UMCOR for three years. 

An Early Response Team is a special type of VIM Team

An Early Response Team has a very narrow function and has no management or administrative responsibility for the overall disaster response. An “Early Response Team” should not be confused with a Disaster Recovery Team. An Early Response Team is a specially trained and certified team called to do early response. A Disaster Recovery Team is a type of UMVIM Team that comes to assist in the long term recovery, AFTER early response is completed. Each Early Response Team member must be trained and carry an identification badge reissued by UMCOR following successful completion of Early Response Team Training.

ABOUT THE ERT TRAINING

Registration - 8:00 a.m.

Training - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The class will cover the purpose of an Early Response Team:
• To show that the church cares about what has happened to the people,
• To assist the most vulnerable populations with their immediate needs, and
• To provide assistance that will help to prevent further damage to homes and property.

The class will also cover team member responsibilities, how to equip a team, how to prevent further damage (the four basic jobs), and more.

Training will be included for:
• Tarping, mucking/gutting, salvaging
• Tools/Equipment Set-up
• Team member safety
Cost: $30.00

This includes:
• Training Resources Manual
• Identification Badge
• Rio Texas Conference Early Response Team (ERT) T-shirt
• Lunch

Click Here to Register

Volunteers In Mission
Team Leader Training

(Registration and Light Breakfast Begins at 8:30) St Paul's UMC, Kerrville

United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) is a grassroots movement to help team demonstrate Christian Love in Action in partnership with communities in need. The key word is “WITH”.

We are all called to serve our fellow man but how? The UMVIM Team Leader training event is the start of a lifestyle whereby Christians, both lay and clergy, may offer their skills and talents for Christian service at home and around the world on short-term assignments. This event provides the theological foundation for missional living while learning the skills to partner and be culturally sensitive to the needs of those we serve. This work includes construction and renewing of mission facilities, teaching, witnessing, conducting medical clinics, conducting Bible study or Bible School for children, and serving in disaster relief efforts around the world.

Once the UMC members of the Coastal Bend / Crossroads districts complete the relief phase of Harvey disaster recovery – we are all going to enter into a “long-term recovery” period. The Early Response Teams are a special type of VIM team whose primary mission is to provide a “Christian presence of love” during the times of relief.  

UMVIM training will be vital for the long road of long-term recovery.

VIM teams are special because they enter into partnership and commitment with communities whose lives are not back to normal; they demonstrate “Love in Action” by working with communities so they can become self-sufficient and return to a right relationship with God. VIM teams bring the light back into the lives of those in need through their actions. VIM Team Leader training provides the foundations to strengthen and prepare those who hear the call to serve their fellow man.

For those of you not able to put your feet on the ground in the first initial stages of this disaster in the Coastal Bend, we are having a UMVIM Team Leader Training to prepare teams to go into these same areas in two to three months up to two years in the future.

The $30 cost for training includes instruction, training materials(PDF), the book "A MISSION JOURNEY", VIM leadership manual (PDF), a love offering to the hosting church, and lunch/snacks. Please pay on the day of the training. Nobody will be denied the training because they cannot afford the registration fee.

Click here to register
 

Registration questions?  contact: skennerdell@riotexas.org / 210.408.4514

If you have any questions feel free to contact:

Pam Elliott,  Hill Country District VIMCoordinator - 830-896-6400 

Abel Vega, RTC Mission Vitality Center – Director of Outreach Vitality avega@riotexas.org or 210.408.4514

Frank Rojas, RTC VIM Conference Coordinator - vim.riotx@gmail.com or 512.422.0210

Located at the Gulf Bend Center

Held each Friday at 10am.

All groups and individuals interested in long term recovery are welcome to participate.  A variety of committees have been established that would welcome your support.