Volunteer with Emergency Management

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training teaches individuals how to prepare their homes and neighborhoods to respond to a disaster through a combination of classroom and hands on training. CERT graduates are the primary source of emergency volunteers in the city.

Renton Emergency Communication Service (RECS) provides backup communications for the city in an emergency using ham radio and other methods. This non-profit club is dedicated to continuously updating its skills through ongoing training and public service. RECS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group and an official ARES/RACES team.

Classes

RECS generally offers Ham Radio Licensing and Intro to Ham Radio classes once per year as part of the Renton Emergency Preparedness Academy. For more information email pio@rentonecs.net.

Come to a meeting

RECS meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. See calendar. RECS holds a business meeting followed by an emergency communication training topic at each monthly meeting. Guests are welcome, contact the Team Leader for details on attending a meeting.

Weekly Net

RECS holds a weekly net on Thursdays at 7 p.m. The frequency is 443.600, positive offset with a tone of 103.5. Visitor stations are welcome to join.

Join RECS

If you are interested in joining RECS, you are invited attend a meeting to meet other members and get a feel for the group. RECS meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Contact the Team Leader for more information.

After attending a meeting, fill out the membership form(PDF, 679KB) and submit it to membership@rentonecs.net.

You will also need to submit a head and shoulders ID photo against a neutral background, and copies of IS-100, IS-200, and IS-700 course certificates.

You will then receive an email from Alliance 2020 on behalf of the Human Resources Department to process your background check. For more information, email membership@rentonecs.net or call 425-430-7723.

Contact RECS

• For general information about RECS and training, drills, and other operations, email the team leader.
• For information about joining RECS, email membership@recs.net.
• For information about classes and RECS public events, email the public information officer.

RECS Call Sign: K7FDF

Renton Emergency Communication Service
PO Box 58032
Renton, WA 98058

After a disaster happens, many people want to help with response or recovery efforts. This is deeply admirable, but sometimes donating items or arriving at the scene of an emergency to volunteer causes more problems than it solves.

Cash donations are more effective and efficient than donations of items or time. Unless there is a specific request for items or for volunteers, avoid making assumptions about what people need or want after a disaster.

If you need help deciding where to donate, the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NVOAD) website has a list of major non-profits that provide aid in an emergency.

Only deploy to an emergency site if you work with an established volunteer group. CERT is Renton's local source of disaster volunteers. Other trusted groups to volunteer with include NVOAD, the American Red Cross, United Way of King County, and AmeriCorps.

The mission and purpose of the Greater Renton Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD),(PDF, 1021KB) which includes neighborhoods, schools, businesses, government, faith communities, and non-profit organizations, is to identify, network, organized, and deploy resources to address the unmet human needs such as food, clothing, mass care, donated goods, volunteer management, and emotional and spiritual support in disaster recovery.

Mission

The mission and purpose of the Greater Renton COAD, which includes neighborhoods, schools, businesses, government, faith communities, and non-profit organizations, is to identify, network, organized, and deploy resources to address the unmet human needs in disaster recovery. 

COAD’s Role in the Phases of Disaster

• Preparedness: Encourages local organizations and businesses to be prepared through presentations and providing access to planning workshops and toolkits.
• Response: Keeps a presence in the City of Renton Emergency Operations Center and matches organizations with individual unmet needs.
• Recovery: After other response organizations leave, the COAD remains ready to help the community recover since it is made up of local non-profits, businesses, and other organizations.

COAD Structure

The Greater Renton COAD is made up of member organizations that include non-profits, businesses, government, and faith-based organizations. Functional lead organizations take ownership of a specific area of need within the COAD and are responsible for contacting the supporting member organizations who indicated that they could meet that area of need on the COAD resource sheet.

Functional Lead Organizations

• Mass Care 
• Food – The Salvation Army
• Community Point of Distribution – The Emergency Feeding Program
• Volunteer Management – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
• Donations Management – FLO still needed!

Join the COAD

If your organization or business is interested in helping the Renton community in a disaster, email em@rentonwa.gov.