National Fire Agency (NFA), Ministry of the Interior signed a memorandum for cooperation with Spirit of America and Forward Alliance at 10:30, Nov 11 as an effort to ensure emergency response training, supplies and volunteer organization in response to major disasters and develop the foundation for further promotion. The extent of cooperation covers the design of and pilot program for community-based civilian volunteer organizations for emergency response and provision of emergency response training, equipment and supplies needed by governmental agencies, and volunteer workers at urban, rural and remote communities; selection of governmental agencies and private organizations for cooperation in disaster response programs (including pilot programs, drills, organization, training and capacity establishment) and in the fields of, for example, communications, logistics, predefined materials and supplies, as to improve the disaster response capability at the front line.
NFA points out that one of the private organizations in the signed memorandum is Spirit of America, which is a USA-based nonprofit organization. Spirit of America in invited in this memorandum to strengthen the alliance with the US an provide necessary supplies and training to uphold freedom and make life better. The domestic counterpart in the memorandum is the Forward Alliance, which advocates the participation of people in the safety of Taiwan through policy initiatives and citizen movements. A series of courses were developed for the 《Be Prepared》 program launched in 2020, including emergency response, light S&R and firefighting, emergency communications and community safety maintenance. These are provided to improve people’s awareness of hazards and their ability to respond, aiming to develop Taiwan into a resilient society with everyone that lives in Taiwan becoming the support for one another.
At the end of signing the memorandum with Spirit of America and Forward Alliance, NFA indicates that a series of emergency response training pilot programs for volunteer workers are being developed to promote the cooperation between public and private sectors in disaster drills and response programs and improvement of communications, logistics and supplies in time of major disasters. Hopefully, the resilience of domestic communities will be enhanced significantly in major disasters and ability of preparedness and response improved facing any major disaster.