Within California, there are mutual aid requests flying between counties almost all the time, along with support from CalOES, who coordinate heavy equipment, helicopters, communications, and other resources as needed.
Good search and rescue teams train regularly. In my current county, volunteers must at a minimum complete one of two wilderness first aid courses every year, CPR for professional rescuers every other year, show up to a minimum number of searches throughout the year, and a smattering of other training. (edit: overall training in my county is available almost once a week, with major mock searches a few times a year, plus an average of about 30 call-outs per year, usually including one major multi-agency incident. The folks that show up to most of this stuff get really good really fast.)
There are a lot of folks that just show up and dabble and provide the necessary manpower for basic tasks during an incident, and some folks that take it really seriously and try to complete as much training as they can and respond to as many incidents as their day job allows for.
Unfortunately, the county-level search and rescue teams rarely venture out of state.
I have some ICS training and could have managed a dispatch role, talked some folks through CPR, juggled multiple concurrent requests, and so on -- and I have software available that would have helped a lot. But this is the first I've heard of Zello.
FEMA is making some changes to SAR resource management and I'm hopeful that there will be improved cooperation between the states in the future.
And by the way: if you're interested in this kind of stuff, and want to do something hands-on helpful in your community, I really recommend checking out your county's SAR organization. If you're not sure where to start or what to expect, feel free to send me an email and I'll reply. If you're in California, I might even know some folks from your county's team. (SAR organizations could really benefit from more tech-oriented people, too.)
Just to add another data point, everything up in Oregon works exactly the same. Monthly meetings, monthly trainings, optional trainings for specialty teams (rope support, trail running, ATV, mountain biking, etc) every week or so, and a call-out once every 1-2 weeks.
If you're even remotely interested in emergency preparedness I highly recommend signing up with a community search and rescue organization.
There is also the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps[1], which have other public health roles, in addition to deployment during natural disasters. The PHSCC deploys with the Coast Guard for sea duty. USA Freedom Corps[2], and AmeriCorps[3] play a role in disaster response.
Team Rubicon[4] is a group of veterans that deploys in disaster response. I think they have small boat capability.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_State_Guard#Maritime_Reg...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Public_Health_Se...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_Freedom_Corps
1) Security of evacuated areas and vital objects
2) Assisting
- during calamities such as flooding and disease
- authorities in maintaining public order
- with large military transports or exercises ('Host Nation Support')
- civilian authorities other military units during large events
3) Ceremonial activities
Notably absent: fighting wars on foreign soil. And while training attendance is required, all work is voluntary.
The National Reserve is part of the regional emergency plans so there's a real opportunity there to be part of the organised relief efforts right from the start.
If it's not, you may want to work on partnering with local emergency services to get one going.
In many other countries there is Civil Defense ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_defense_by_country).
The US also appears to have a Citizen Corps (https://www.ready.gov/citizen-corps) under DHS.
Then LVMPD decided it was their responsibility.
I am thinking more like a level below volunteer firepeople, with some regional and national coordination.
Or form your own. visit your local shooting range for details.
Like, ah, these fine gentlemen. [1]
[1] https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/new9wd/the-birth-of-canad...
I'm thinking of more of a social graph where civilians who are going to help in these sorts of situations can be organized more efficiently. For instance, instead of having a bunch of people drive their personal cars out there, going out as a group would improve the individual's abilities to help efficiently.
They will also be deployed domestically to repress public uprisings, etc.
If you want to help people, you're better off becoming a firefighter. Unfortunately, outside of some small community volunteer firefighter groups, this really isn't an option. The National Guard does not fill this gap.