This week, the Florida Division of Emergency Management hosted their annual Human Services Summit bringing together response organizations, state agencies, county emergency managers, and faith-based organizations to introduce new strategies in coordinating mass care, address lessons learned during Hurricane Ian, and fuel collaboration through response and recovery.
“Our Human Services Branch plays a critical role in the State Emergency Response Team’s responsibility to meet the needs of disaster survivors,” said Division Executive Director Kevin Guthrie. “This annual Summit provides attendees with a great opportunity to learn from previous disaster responses and make continued improvements to maintain Florida’s status as a leader in Emergency Management.”
During the five-day Summit, attendees participated in several workshops including topics on human services planning, mass care, sheltering and feeding, as well as developing ways to build local capacity for sheltering operations and long-term recovery efforts for disaster survivors. The event concluded with a real-time exercise allowing attendees to practice what they learned during the Summit, including how to better share information during a disaster, using WebEOC for human service missions, and improving logistical efficiency during planning stages.
The Human Services Branch is responsible for the coordination of the delivery of mass care, social services, sheltering, and other humanitarian related services to disaster survivors and responders. During the State response to Hurricane Ian, the Human Services Branch supported the needs of survivors through the distribution of over 4 million hot meals, over 15 million Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), over 500,000 food boxes and over 2 million cleanup/hygiene kits. Additionally, the Mass Care team assisted with sheltering operations and the management of volunteers and donations that filled critical gaps during both response and recovery.
