Mutual assistance groups (MAGs), preparedness group and similar terms are used to describe a group of like-minded friends who pool their resources to help each other in an emergency. Consider it like a neighborhood watch, but on steroids.
These are folks who trust each other, have similar views and come together to train, teach each other what they know, work together on projects like a group garden, large scale canning and food storage, develop a group plan and communications capabilities. In this section we will discuss some of the knowledge, skills and abilities you might want people to have to build your group.
Finding a group of like-minded folks when the disaster has struck is not the way find help. A group needs to be formed now, so you get to know each other, develop group skills and even group purchases where something is very costly or you can obtain significant cost savings. Groups can have a shared account to places like restaurant supply warehouses or other wholesale facilities.
Not everyone will be the “running & gunning” type. There are many skills that are needed post disaster, everyone can have a role. The mind map below is a very basic overview, there are other skills and duties, such as child care, educations, etc.
Once you have a MAG you should train, that includes organizing your personnel into teams or groups based on their skills. The mind map below is an overview of some of the areas that groups that can be organized into.
More detailed information, planning and training suggestions and even course curriculum’s will be available in the members pages in the near future.