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Disaster Service Workers

All RCOE personnel fall under the designations of an “essential worker” and as a “disaster service worker” are required to remain at work to assist with any disaster operations until released by RCOE officials. 

Under the California Health and Safety Code, Section 131021, Para (b)(4), Essential Workers are considered primary and secondary school employees, district employees, in-home support providers, and childcare providers that the State public Health Officer or the Director of the Office of Emergency Services deems vital to public health and safety and preservation of the lives of our students and shall continue to provide services throughout the crisis.  RCOE serves a population that is dependent upon our services and cannot abandon this critical responsibility. 

Disaster Service Workers (DSWs) under the California Government Code, Section 3100-3109 defines all public employees, including school and school district personnel as Disaster Service Workers.  During large-scale emergencies and disasters, the County Emergency Operations Center will typically determine the need for DSWs, and may task public agencies.  Employees acting as DSWs will be assigned duties within their scope of training, skill, and ability. Leadership will make every effort to assign you to roles based on the work you do every day, or special skills you possess. You will never be asked to perform duties that you do not know how to do or for which you have not received adequate training.  Examples of DSW responsibilities may include:  Serve as an interpreter; acting as a messenger at a designated site; delivering or dispensing supplies/food; assisting with damage surveys/assessments; filling sandbags and/or clearing debris to name a few. 

California Office of Emergency Services (OES) has develop a short video that provides information and gives examples of what this means to you. 

Please note NIMS and ICS training are ONLY REQUIRED for RCOE staff with a pre-defined disaster response role (e.g., Incident Command Post (ICP), Department Operation Center (DOC), or Emergency Operation Center (EOC) assignments or other Emergency Response Roles. Prior to taking any FEMA online courses, you are required to obtain a FEMA Student Identification (SID) number, please visit the FEMA Student Identification Number (FEMA SID) website to obtain a FEMA SID #.

RCOE employees can visit the Keenan Safe Schools website for training. Log in to the RCOE Safe School Training Login. Should you have any questions or concerns accessing the training information, contact Risk Management, (951) 826-6824.

Once you have logged on to the site, select the Emergency Management – FEMA Training box and select the course titled IS-100.C Incident Command System (ICS) and IS-700.B National Incident Management System (NIMS) to begin the training or go directly to the FEMA Website links below. 

• IS-100-C: Introduction to the Incident Command System, ICS 100
• IS-700-B: An Introduction to the National Incident Management System

There are numerous sources for emergency preparedness information and action steps. Two of the most exhaustive and authoritative sources are listed below and provide valuable and important emergency preparedness information.

• RivCo Ready
• Ready Riverside