Emergency preparedness and response is one of the strategic priorities of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS). When an anthropogenic or natural disaster, a social or military emergency occurs, the coordination of the actions of the employees and volunteers of the local branches of the national society is important. Everyone should understand the role of the Red Cross in responding and clearly know his or her tasks.

In view of this, on 18th – 20th of June, 2019, a training “Volunteer Management in Emergency Response” was held in Kyiv, where volunteers and employees of the URCS from different regions of Ukraine gathered. They were representatives of the Headquarters of the Society, volunteers of emergency response teams, heads of regional branches of the URCS, volunteers of other profiles, and representatives of partner organizations – a total of 25 people.

During three days the participants listened to sessions on critically important subjects in emergency response. These topics are emergencies and their types, key structures and organizations involved in emergency response, peculiarities of volunteer management during emergencies, operational managementduring an emergency, support for volunteers and staff during an emergency, and personal security.

Participants were able to practice in the format of the work of the Red Cross field office. Volunteers and staff practiced internal and external communication and even gave a TV interview.

The training took place within the framework of the project «Promoting the role of volunteers and the population in Civil Protection (ProVoice)».