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Sarasota COAD
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About Us |
The Sarasota Community
Organizations Active in Disaster (Sarasota COAD) was created
after participating in the response and recovery effort of
Hurricane Charley. Since the challenges of Hurricane Charley
and Katrina, the Sarasota COAD works year-round to encourage
relationships while breaking down barriers that impede the
sharing of resources for a common mission following a
disaster. In addition, organizations engage community
leaders in discussions to document the lessons learned and
to review the potential the community has to foster
partnerships and to streamline processes to support Sarasota
County Emergency Management if and when a hurricane disaster
hits Sarasota County. The Sarasota COAD continually prepares
for an all-hazard response which includes pandemics,
terrorism, natural disasters, mass causalities and others.
The initial structure of the COAD was provided by the
Sarasota County Health and Human Services using the
Incident Command System model that was established
several decades ago by the federal government to guide the
response to California wildfires at that time. Sarasota
County Health and Human Services Operations Center serves as
an extension of the County’s Emergency Operations Center
during an all-hazard’s activation.
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What Does Sarasota COAD Do?
- Recruits non-profit and
community organizations to volunteer services in
disaster planning, response, recovery and mitigation.
- Serves in the Health and
Human Services Operations Center following a disaster
—receives requests for assistance and contacts
organizations that can help.
- Holds educational
workshops for all organizations, including drills.
- Provides displays and
literature about disaster preparation.
- Provides speakers to
organizations requesting information about COAD and
volunteering/partnering in a disaster.
- The Long-Term Recovery
Committee’s goal is to support families and individuals
in their long-term recovery for those residing in their
primary home in Sarasota County at the time of the
disaster.
- The Citizen Corps is a
grassroots strategy to bring together government and
community leaders to involve citizens in all-hazards
emergency preparedness and resilience. In Sarasota
County, the Sarasota Community Organizations Active in
Disaster (COAD) acts as the Citizens Corps.
- Encourages
communication, coordination, cooperation, collaboration,
and outreach to foster more effective service to people
affected by disaster
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