GLENDALE : City Seeks Volunteers for Disaster Corps

To be better ready the next time an earthquake or other civil disaster strikes, Glendale is looking for a few good volunteers--or several hundred of them, to be more exact.

On Wednesday, city officials announced the formation of a “Volunteer Disaster Service Workers” network, whose members will help with an array of duties in the event of disasters--such as coordinating care and shelter, setting up emergency communications, providing foreign-language translation and supporting the city’s emergency services.

“The Northridge earthquake was a moderate quake, and Glendale had its hands full,” said Gerald Shamburg, the city’s emergency services coordinator. “So the next time something happens, we want to have a pool of trained volunteers in place to provide an additional level of support.”

Requirements for participating in the program are minimal, city officials said. After going through a brief orientation program, the registered volunteers will be sworn in as disaster service workers and issued ID cards. They also will be required to attend periodic workshops and training on earthquake preparedness, shelter operations, disaster communications and related topics.

In particular, city officials are seeking people who can help in these areas:

* Shelter workers to assist city staff, the American Red Cross and Salvation Army in the event that disaster shelters are operated on a long-term basis.

* Licensed amateur radio operators to provide communications stations at schools, hospitals, shelters and so on.

* People fluent in Spanish, Armenian and other languages to work as translators.

* “Area leaders” to coordinate disaster preparedness meetings and activities in their neighborhoods.

Fire Chief Richard Hinz said the city will be counting on the disaster service workers to actively go into their neighborhoods and help educate people about disaster readiness.

“The focus has to be on the community at large,” Hinz said. “We hope to build a large cadre of people, not only to assist in an emergency, but also to get the message out about being prepared.”

During a brief meeting Wednesday at City Hall, officials signed up the program’s first two volunteers: Gale Dean, office manager of Store-It-All self-storage, and Jerry Bizaillion, leader of a local homeowners association.

Organizers said that about 20 people have already expressed interest in joining the program. They also said they hope the network will include not just residents, but merchants, nonprofit groups, Neighborhood Watch groups, churches and schools.

Mayor Eileen Givens said the city has already begun soliciting volunteers via mailings to local community groups.

“It’s not just a reactive type of service we’re talking about,” Givens said. “People throughout the city realize this is not pretend, this is for real and we need to be prepared at all times.”

The first orientation meeting for disaster service workers is 7 p.m. Oct. 19 at 141 N. Glendale Ave. For more information, call (818) 548-2121.