DERT stands for Disaster Emergency Response Team. After Hurricane Katrina, many Emmanuelites wanted to find a way to help, and on very short notice, a group of 50 people came together over Labor Day weekend to discuss what could be done. This is how DERT got started – a grassroots movement of people who wanted to make a difference, and respond to the needs of those affected by a devastating natural disaster.
Of course, Virginia Beach is no stranger to hurricanes, and among the topics of discussion at our first meeting was looking to the future and putting into place an organization which would have the necessary preparation, training and structure in case a hurricane or emergency hit closer to home. Roger Hungerford proposed structuring our organizational model after the Incident Command Model used by FEMA and the Red Cross. In this way, if we do ever need to put our emergency training and preparations to the test, we will already be working in that mode and mindset, which is crucial to emergency response.
We sent our first team to the Mississippi Gulf Coast in December 2005. Since then we have sent 8 teams and several volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. In addition many of our members have been trained by the Red Cross so that we can establish a disaster center at Emmanuel should the need ever arise in Virginia Beach.
See the Scrapbook under "Who We Are" for photos of our DERT teams at work.
©2007 Emmanuel Episcopal Church
5181 Princess Anne Road * Virginia Beach, VA 23462
(757) 499-1271
