Do you help with disaster relief?

We don’t help directly with disaster relief in terms of deploying medical professionals and volunteers into the field. We also don’t collect supplies or distribute them to people in need. However, we do support the missions of affiliate organizations who engage in disaster relief efforts. We do this by helping them improve their communication and information systems. We also use informed consent to share information about great people like you who they might like to recruit as qualified volunteers.

To be extra clear: we do not deploy medical professionals, search and rescue teams, or wilderness first responders into any emergency situation whatsoever. We simply put these people in contact with officials who may choose to recruit them.

Why is the National First Responder Registry necessary?

Each year, people who want to make a positive difference in their local communities engage in wilderness first aid training. Some of them even become Wilderness First Responders, which empowers them to deliver limited forms of emergency medical aid to others in specific situations. When disasters like hurricanes, flash floods, and forest fires strike, WFRs often feel empowered to take action. After all, they got all this training done so that they could help!

However, there is a problem: when WFRs self-deploy, they often get in the way of official emergency operations. Being a WFR does not grant a person the ability to start up a search and rescue squad or interrupt emergency operations. So, what can they do? Typically, WFRs try to form relationships with individuals at fire departments and police stations local to them, and they hope that they can be recruited to some degree.

When one of our founders was in this situation right after Hurricane Helene, she went to an emergency operations center in Erwin, TN, introduced herself by name and certification, and was able to conduct wellness checks with the permission and cooperation of those officials. However, it disturbed her that there was no oversight about her information. She could have lied when she said she was a WFR. She could have misrepresented herself in many different ways.

The National First Responder Registry provides emergency operations centers with an early roster, or a first step in finding qualified potential volunteers in the case of disasters like Hurricane Helene. If our founder had been on a registry like this one, that emergency operations center in Erwin could have called her up as a volunteer 24-48 hours sooner. Not wanting to self-deploy, she spent two days trying to figure out how to get permission to help without jamming up important lines of communication.

When grassroots organizations and individuals are better able to communicate and collaborate, we are less likely to cause problems for the people who are truly responsible for carrying out rescue and recovery missions.

It seems like you’re dealing with a lot of personal information. Is that legal?

Don’t worry; we have been working and will continue working very hard to protect your personal information. Our forms have been created in consideration of our privacy policy and terms and conditions. The information that visitors submit populates a private database which can only be accessed by privileged volunteers who have a need to access it. Moreover, those volunteers have signed non-disclosure agreements. When we share your information, we only share it for the purposes outlined in our privacy policy. We do not and will not ever sell your information.

Are you a legitimate organization?

We are a legitimate organization! It was really important to all our founding members that we do things in an informed and legal way. We feel that bureaucratic red tape is necessary and serves an important purpose. We are incorporated with the State of Tennessee and have pending 501(c)(3) status. At the time of this writing, we expect to have our status confirmed in the next three-to-four weeks.

We have had countless conversations with lawyers in multiple states and have sought the mentorship and advice of a few different organizations that help non-profits get started off on the right foot. We love research and we have done a lot of it.

The future is looking bright!

Can I join the National WFR Registry if I am not a WFR yet?

Although the main purpose of the registry is to create a resource for accredited emergency operation managers to access in times of need, we also want to be sure that WFRs whose certifications are about to expire are reminded of that fact and are presented with opportunities to renew their certifications. Therefore, when you fill out the WFR form, you can opt in to such messaging. If you wanted to, you could join the registry and we would consider you as a “potential WFR” in our system.

Where are you getting your funding?

Great question! Money talks, does it not? At the time of this writing, we are running at a substantial deficit. Since it’s important to us to operate with the confines of the law, we are currently unable to solicit donations from the public. However, our team has a couple of talented grant writers who have had success securing funds for other projects in the past, so we’re feeling pretty optimistic that our great ideas will earn substantial support in that way.

To recap: we have no money, but we expect donations and grants. In addition, we have plans in the works to generate funds for ourselves and our affiliates through our community market program.

In our view, 501(c)(3) non-profits have a duty to be as transparent as possible regarding their sources of funding, budgets, etc. This is our first step in sharing that information with you.

If your 501(c)(3) status is still pending, why did you launch your website already?

Even though our tax-exempt status is pending, we can still get started on writing proposals for grants. The more volunteers we have, the more people signed up for the registry, the more organizations affiliated with us, and the more people ready to start selling things in our marketplace, the better situated we will be to apply for grants and steer our organization in the right direction.

It is true that we have started with a highly competent, knowledgeable team, but we can only be experts in limited areas. We know and understand that there are other people out in the community who know more than us and are more capable than us in myriad ways.

If you’re one of those people, we want you! If you see something amiss, please let us know.

Wait! I still have questions. How can I get them to you?

For the moment, the best way to ask questions is to email sarah@wildernessresponsenetwork.org.