– Dear Lisa, I have completed all 3 levels of CDVC in around 3-3.5days of work. The following are my findings. As I did the training quickly and have limited knowledge with the NY community, I am writing by using my experience from the HK context, so please excuse my mistakes if I have any misunderstandings about the training or the community. I am happy to discuss further anytime and to supplement the details if appropriate.
– General comments
– CDVC is a very comprehensive training with abundant knowledge across many areas. It is impressive how so many learnings and experiences could be written down and gathered in an online training in a structured way! I like the idea that it is split into 3 levels, different topics, has knowledge checks at the end of each session, and has videos to supplement. Also I like the idea that volunteers can also choose to take shorter electives based on their interest.
– Comparison to the Red Cross System
– In terms of scope, the knowledge on disaster response and emotional resiliency is generally similar to Hong Kong and the Red Cross. I am particularly intrigued by active gunshot, opioid abuse, much & gut which are non-existent / done differently in HK. Some of the items (e.g. setting safety policies) are done by RC staff members instead of volunteers.
– In terms of difficulty, the CDVC is a mix of tasks / roles split between execution volunteers, leading volunteers (household-level assessment), and RC staff (e.g. Volunteer Center in-charge). In the red cross system, trainings are highly correlated to the JD of the volunteer role, such that the training can help the volunteer elevate their skill to perform new roles.
– Potential Painpoints affecting the learning effectiveness of volunteers
– (1) Apart from the management of volunteer reception centre part, CDVC Level 1-3 has no clear difference in difficulty and is not strongly correlated to the JD of the volunteers. This may make volunteers confused on what level they should study for their role, or who would quality / would be a good choice for certain roles in disaster response.
– while CDVC1 is a great beginners course for execution volunteers, CDVC 2 and 3 does not provide sufficient training for volunteer leaders.
– while a lot of “how to do” has been mentioned, it may not reach the last mile and still needs further training such that the knowledge can be applied in the community. e.g. how to decide on which services will be provided by each volunteer group in their community, templates for standard procedures like risk assessments etc.
– From my experience, I think volunteers (essentially community members) with no background apart from this online training will find it difficult to (a) find out their mission and position in disaster response, (b) retain all the information, (C) run a multiple-person team with command chain (because we know leadership building needs practice).
– (2) The training may be too long and a broad spectrum is covered. As we discussed in the staff meeting, it may be difficult for volunteers to commit to multiple 8-12 hr courses online after their 9-5 jobs. This means that volunteers may lose interest and focus, leading to low completion rate / low conversion rate to actually becoming a RR and joining the RRN.
– Some parts of the training are vey similar / may feel repetitive (e.g. emotional resiliency)
– Some parts of the training with lower relevance to disaster response / today’s context (e.g. COVID, workplace resilience) may also defer the volunteers from finishing the training.
– Overall suggestions
– Refine focus (select training content with highest relevance) and reduce friction (reduce less irrelevant and repetitive materials, glitches). (not recreating course contents, but reshuffle some parts to adjust the length, relevance, and difficulty)
– For less relevant materials, consider to move them to stand alone elective trainings.
– re-consider the target audience for the 3 levels, and consider to correlate volunteer roles with each level.
– the higher the level, the more hands on sessions are needed to learn the skills. e.g. guided workshops on determining the services to be provided, mapping community resources, setting ICS structure, keeping the team emotionally resilient etc. should be provided.
– Review the funneling strategy based on the current painpoints and how it can be relevant to the course structure.
– For example, CDVC can be restructured to the following
– Level 1 – for general volunteers (like greeters) – consisting of ABCDE (different themes) + 2 hands on sessions
– Level 2 – for volunteers with specific roles (like EFA) – consisting of FGHI + 3 hands on sessions
– Level 3 – for leaders – consisting of JKL + 4 hands on sessions
– to raise the interest and minimise the friction of potential participants, we can first introduce them to some of the electives in Level 1, for example ABC, which is most relevant to the disasters in their district. after they complete ABC, invite them to do DE to complete CDVC Level 1. Organise a completion ceremony gathering. Engage the volunteers who completed CDVC Level 1 to be volunteer helpers in future cohorts. Have regular refresher sessions. Have the CDVC Level 1 cert ready for download online.
– Have a list of organisations to show the volunteers where and in which organisation they can volunteer for after taking the course. Have a list of volutneers who completed the training to organisations by district, so organisations can stocktake potential manpower.
– expand to colleges, unions, recreation groups? target community groups, instead of individuals and help them figure out their ICS.
– create an opportunity for the leaders of different groups to gather once a year to form a connection and sense of belonging (may be similar to ready responder roundtable).
– Provide additional references online / in handson sessions, for example:
– examples of typical community groups joining the training on their ICS structure, what service they provide, their mission and procedures etc.
– summary notes and templates for each important chapter, placed in the references corner, ready to be used.
– refreshers should be provided at least yearly, and preferably correlated to seasonal disasters.
– To tackle the manpower load and cost of handson sessions, consider ToT with college students / retirees with some emergency or responder experience. assign them to do the hands on sessions.
Comments specific to CDVC 1
– technical glitch: the training has to be access via the “training” button on the top bar. it cannot be accessed via knowledge enter → CDVC
– there was one question where “all of the above” which was the correct option, but had to press all answers to pass
– some questions’ answers may not have been provided in text (e.g. CPR ratio of 30:2). while this may encourage the audience to watch videos, it may be good to reinterate the points in text form. Also, if we would like to promote hands-only CPR, it may also be a good idea to iterate that in text.
Comments specific to CDVC2
– Lesson 24 – Q1/3 – stock market traders may also be under high stress and hence may be at greater risk of drug exposure, consider to change this option to another group of occopation
– Lesson 22 – Workplace Risk Factors Impact Mental Health – consider to exlpain more on the relevance with disaster response
– Lesson 28 – covid-19 – remove antibiotics as a treatment method or quote – only if there is a confirmed bacterial infection
– Lesson 28 – knwoledge check – answer does not match with text, review needed.
– Lesson 36 – 1st graphic “Asbestos, Lead, Mold, Sewage” does not match with the 2nd line “Asbestos, Lead Dust, and Silica”
– Lesson 36 – consider more guidedance to how to identify risky materials in a real household, e.g. asbestos items, lead items
– Lesson 38 – Looking through the Windshield – typo on “DV1F1”
– Lesson 41 – under “Muck and Gut Hazards:” Silica was one of the points, but there is no information on silica in the content
– Lesson 44 – can consider more clarify can be provided to explain the difference between incident management system VS incident command system, otherwise, it may be a good idea to drop the IMS and just keep the ICS, which is most relevant to volunteers.
– Lesson 47 – consider to align the 1st graphic and the sections with the “Overview and Checklist”
– Lesson 48 – last graphic on Detregent and Borax solution – consider to provide more context on when this is to be used and how.
– Lesson 50 – question – remove silica from the first option
– Lesson 58 – Uses reflective listening techniques by repeating what someone has said to confirm meaning – consider to describe the techniques and give examples.
– Lesson 60 – role play – add more context and details, e.g. add the script in the Emotional Resiliency Training roleplay.
– Lesson 66 – consider to highlight the relevance between active shooting and disaster response
– Knowledge check
– Q7 – review the answer on handling of the impared object for stop the bleed, it is likely wrong.
– Q20 – review the option of “asbestos, lead dust, and silica”
– Q11 – In our context, we use the technique of “telling them that the danger is gone”, for example in traffic accidents / fires where the beneficiary had left the disaster scene and settled at a safe place. it would be interesting to see if this point aligns with EFA and can be added into the training.
– Q15, 23, 29 – It would be easier for the student if these questions are set to allow only 1 option instead of multiple options.
– Flood response – consider to provide an overview of different types of assessments first, then provide with home visit and assessment checklist / procedures.
– Active shooting – consider to explain more on the relevance with disaster response
– there are several links to “readyresponders.org” which are no longer available, revision needed.
– can consider to resheuffle the sequence of some elements, or provide a hint on when the details will be shown. e.g. for the wet method, provide a hint on when the details will be provided, otherwise it could be confusing as there were quite a few mentions on its importance but no further details available.
Comments specific to CDVC3
– Lesson 1 – consider to provide more context on the Ready Responders Boots on the Ground Exercise
– Lesson 4 – Typo – Agenda and Course Introductions – “DV 103: Compound Disaster Response Planning”
– Lesson 4 – 2 versions of objectives, agendas, overviews. consider to combine into 1 version.
– Lesson 6 – Typo – “You were introduced to Disaster Response Challenges in Disaster Volunteerism 1.”
– Lesson 6 – Duplicated table on disaster response challenges
– Lesson 6 – consider to move the “Community Resource identification” part to Lesson 7. it may also be useful to ask participants to create a map / list of contacts of the services they can find in the community.
– Lesson 10 – consider to supplement on the point of “do not self deploy”. provide further information on who deploys
– Lesson 13 – consider to further explore on how to enable volunteers to perform certain roles, e.g. Muck and Gut Flood Recovery Team Leader. in the US context, is it easy to find a volunteer who can fit the JD?
– Lesson 14 – typo – “Recall the lessons you have learned in Disaster Volunteer 1”
– Lesson 27 – blank question
– Lesson 28 – Typo – “DV 103: Service Center Set Up and Management”
– Lesson 35 – consider to provide more guidelines on who can carry the “staff” / “affiliated volunteer” roles. For the session of management policies, they may fall under organisation development, instead of volunteer leadership. consider to mention it in a standalone session.
– Lesson 35 – blank session under “**Ensuring Understanding”**
– Lesson 36 – consider to provide more guidance on how to tell apart safety policies and safety guidelines. alternatively, combine the 2 terms into 1 for community level understanding.
– Lesson 37 – the standard positions for all types of roles in a VCS provided a new list of positions which are slightly different from the Generic Incident Command System Roles. While “You may see the names shift slightly and the staff that falls under of the direction of these managers or as in ICS the Section Chiefs may expand but the basic principles remain the same.”, consider to simplify into 1 list for community level understanding.
– Lesson 37 – change the list of team leader roles from check box to point form
– Lesson 37 – the role names of Volunteer coordinator / Volunteer Officer, and Operations mgr / officer etc. needs to be aligned
– Lesson 37 – remove [www.disastervolunteerismacademy.org]
– Lesson 39 – typo – “DV103”
– Lesson 39, 40 – is largely a recap of L1 L2 emotional resiliency contents. consdier to shift to a management POV or skip.
– Lesson 44 – consider to add more explanation on exploring peak performance
– Lesson 45 – the first voice recording should be placed in Lesson 44
– Lesson 51 – Typo – “DV103”
– Lesson 52 – consdier to highlight the connection to disaster response, e.g. EAP, reiliency program. also consider to explain more on what a “resiliency program” is and how it differs from being a supportive leader. consider to convert the term workspace stress to another term so as to highlight the conecction with disaster response.
– Lesson 67 – one of the role play is the same as L1 /L2 and needs more details..
– Knowledge check – 90% of the questions are the same as CDVC2, check if there are any technical issues.
Follow up Items (Meeting with Lisa on 20260505)
– Add description on how and why the CDVC is designed in this structure. Add clarity on the target audience of each level.
– Level 3 – for thsoe who are already being community leaders, not a subsequent training after Level 1 and 2.
– Align the description in the website, RRH, and first page of each level
– More description needed to connect opioid and active shooting to disasters.
– Knowledge retention / Recap
– visually remind users on which part is a recap to reduce annoyance
– Prepare one-pagers – provide before the knowledge check of whole level (e.g. link to one drive)
– Calender and announcements to show the next hands on session / cohort.
– Need more clarification on what the “cohort” means? What people joining the cohort can get? e.g. hands on session, meeting other likeminded ppl.
– Place an introduction to volunteer roles in L1 (assessing your own capacity) for more clarity