Cattaraugus County will host two New York State Citizen Preparedness classes, open to the public.  This training program is brought to the community by the NYS Governor's Office, NYS Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Department of Military and Naval Affairs, and local host locations: Gowanda Fire Department, and Delevan Fire Department.  Participants need only choose one training to attend, it is a one class training event.  Details about the training topics are below.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023, beginning at 6 p.m.
Gowanda Fire Station
230 Aldrich Street
Gowanda, NY 14070

Wednesday, November 8, 2023, beginning at 6 p.m.
Delevan Training Center
1006 North Main Street
Delevan, NY 14042

Signup online at https://www.dhses.ny.gov/citizen-preparedness-training-calendar.  You will notice there are many training opportunities available in other counties, too, please feel free to sign up for any class that suits your schedule best.  They are in date order so scroll down to find the Cattaraugus County classes.

The Citizen Preparedness Corps give residents the tools and resources to prepare for any type of disaster or emergency, respond accordingly and recover as quickly as possible to pre-disaster conditions.

Citizen Preparedness Corps training began in February 2014.  Trainings are led by the New York National Guard working with experts from the Division's Office of Emergency Management and Office of Fire Prevention and Control.  Training sessions are coordinated with local county emergency management personnel at various venues such as armories, community centers and other locations statewide, including the New York State Fair. 

The course provides an introduction to responding to a natural or human-caused disaster. Participants are advised on how to properly develop family emergency plans and stock up on emergency supplies.

A key component of the training is distribution of free NYS Disaster Preparedness Kits to participants (one per family) containing examples of key items to assist individuals in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. The state training and kits will help New Yorkers to be the most-trained and best-prepared citizens in the country.