The Disaster Emergency Response Association, Inc. (DERA) services

DERA – The Institute for Preparedness and Resilience was formed to communicate efforts to reduce the potential impact of a disaster, reduce or eliminate the impact of a disaster, and planning post disaster to create more resilience before the next disaster. DERA partners with organizations to both showcase and enhance their efforts at preparedness and resilience.

DERA was founded on the use of amateur [ham] radio. This is still a key communications method today. It is very important that the communication methods map to the way the intended audience wants to receive updates.There are other methods for message transmission via satellite phones, cellular service, voice over internet protocol [VOIP]. There are smartphones apps that assure that messages are received by the impacted people and organizations. Text, email, internet software applications [Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Next Door with more available every day] are all possibilities for effective communications. The collective DERA group has a huge storehouse of knowledge regarding communications methods.

Often, it is the small things that make the biggest impact. Moving small items in larger shipments can become problematic. We have found that many items can be transported in small vehicles and sometimes handed off to others in route to expedite the shipment. For those people that have materials and supplies that meet the needs of disaster survivors, DERA has alliances with various transportation possibilities and connections at the time of action. If you have transportation capabilities (preferably donated or low cost), DERA is interested in including your capacity in our portfolio of resources.