New York Trains More Than 100K Residents in Disaster Response
More than 100,000 New York state residents are now trained in how to help out during a natural or man-made disaster.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the Citizen Preparedness Corps reached the milestone on March 21. The training program was created in 2014 in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to teach residents how to respond to public emergencies, whether a hurricane or other natural disaster or a terrorist attack.
More than 2,000 courses have been conducted as part of the initiative, which brings together instructors from the National Guard, American Red Cross, state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
The training can be tailored to specific communities and populations, and has been taught in several languages including Spanish, Russian, Burmese and Cantonese.