What is DAT?

Disaster Action Teams respond to local emergencies; DAT calls could range from a variation of incidents such as house fire, apartment fire, dwelling flooding, or many other small natural disasters which potentially displace people in our community. DAT teams may also receive an initial call if the fire department or police department needs snacks and hydration supplies (known as a canteen), or if evacuated community members need a canteen or a temporary evacuation center.

Who is involved with DAT?

Disaster Action Teams are DSHR (Disaster Human Resources) members who take outlined DAT training, and sign up to be on call for local DAT emergencies.

What do we do about DAT?

The fire and police department or a displaced community member calls the Red Cross hotline, which reaches a call center.  The Red Cross call center activates DAT by calling a duty officer, who activates and dispatches a DAT team.  We respond to calls on a regular basis and are seeking DSHR members to be on call, according to your availability.

What’s Regional DAT?

Regional DAT is an upcoming new structure that will be coordinated through a new scheduling process.  Personnel are now able to sign up for South Region (West Los Angeles, Central East Los Angeles, South Bay and South East regions) or North Region (the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valley region), or may also choose District only, or Chapterwide availability.  12 hour shifts will be  6am – 6pm, 7 days a week.  Partial shifts or multiple shift signups will be an option when signing up.  In the first phase, DAT personnel will sign up via email or hotline.  In the second phase, which will occur in a few months, DAT personnel will sign up using an online self-serve scheduling system.

How do I get involved with DAT?

If you are interested in being involved with DAT, please email datstaffing@arcla.org

If you are already involved with DAT, thank you!  You will receive periodic emails in the upcoming weeks with specific program changes and instructions.

How do I train for DAT?

• DAT Training guides can be found or the Emergency Services section of the website of click here.
• Training classes are held regularly throughout our Chapter. Click here for more information.

What if I have questions about DAT?

Please feel free to contact the DAT staffing team at DATStaffing@arcla.org with your questions. In addition, your monthly volunteer district meetings are a great time to learn more about DAT.

I’m involved and DAT and feel ready to assume more leadership responsibilities.  How do I get promoted in DAT?

We need more leadership!  Please take training and sign up for shifts.  When you have completed the required training and have DAT experience, we encourage you to apply to promote! The DAT promotion application can be found in the Document Library of the Emergency Services page or click here!

Thank you,

Your DAT staffing team