Prepare your home, family for emergencies
Published on Wed, Jun 16, 2010 by Robert L. SpinksRead More Spinks
Every week we see natural and manmade disasters occurring around the world. Many readers will remember the Cold War years of practicing "duck-and-cover," when we all hid under our school desks to the threat of a nuclear attack or practiced earthquake drills.
The days when Civil Defense shelters dotted almost every city and were stocked with government-provided emergency rations, sanitary kits, first aid supplies and Geiger counters have long since passed.
Emergency management today requires individual preparedness.
There are no stockpiles of government provided food, medical supplies, gasoline or anything else waiting for us on the Olympic Peninsula when a disaster does strike.
Disaster response takes time
As we have seen several times over recent years, the federal response to a disaster that many people believe will be swift, takes days if not weeks to ramp up. That leaves local citizens and already stretched-thin emergency responders holding the bag in the short term.
Recently Sheriff Bill Benedict of Clallam County took over the operation of the county's Emergency Management Program. He and other emergency responders felt that this would make the program more effective and integrated with other critical programs such as search and rescue, not to mention the natural tie-in with law enforcement that has to occur in any major disaster.
Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregine heads up the day-to-day oversight of the county's Emergency Management Program (visit www.
clallam.net/emergency mgmt/index.asp). Peregine is one of the first to tell you to stock away more than just the standard three days of food, water, candles, a radio with fresh batteries, and medicine that is recommended nationally as a bare minimum.
Stock up now
Why stock up with supplies for more than three days?
In a significant earthquake, volcano eruption or tsunami, the major population centers will receive the first attention for help, not the sparsely populated rural fringe of the Olympic Peninsula. It is well known to local emergency responders that a week or more may pass before assistance starts to trickle into the Olympic Peninsula.
I have been told often that the Olympic Peninsula has roughly three days of food and gasoline on hand at any time in our stores. All of those resources have to be trucked across the Hood Canal bridge daily. If the bridge is out, then those trucks would have to lumber up U.S. Highway 101. If the weather is bad or the road is blocked, then those supplies won't be coming. Air or sea resupply in a major disaster is not feasible on any large scale.
A recent visit to the Federal Emergency Management Administration Web site showed current disaster operations being conducted in more than 33 states! Not an unusual week in the life of our own country.
Local resources exist
Local resources are available if we all take advantage of planning and preparing today for our own safety.
"Map Your Neighborhood" is a 90-minute class organizing neighbors to respond in the first hour of a disaster. Courses are taught in your neighborhood with the trainer and materials supplied by the county Emergency Management Office. Since June 2007, more than 700 citizens have been trained. To learn more, call Clallam County Emergency Management Program at 417-2525 or visit www.
clallam.net/emergency
mgmt/html/map_your_neighborhood.htm.
The American Red Cross of the Olympic Peninsula has offices in Carlsborg. The chapter provides traditional training in first aid and CPR as well as other emergency skills. Disaster preparedness materials can be downloaded directly from their Web site at www.
peninsularedcross.org.
The Clallam County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES) is the umbrella group that links amateur radio operators with the county's Emergency Management Program. This group of volunteers meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the county Emergency Operations Center located in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse. To learn more about how you can participate, the CCARES Web site is www.olyham.com/html/ccares.html.
Information and news are the first critical needs that fail in any significant disaster. When a community is uninformed during a major event, the 9-1-1 phone lines quickly are overstressed, slowing emergency operations.
Radio station is on alert
Sequim is home to its own nonprofit community radio station.
KSQM 91.5 FM broadcasts around the clock throughout the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. During any emergency, KSQM has a critical partnership with police, fire and medical first responders, as well with the Clallam County Emergency Management Department.
Jeff Bankston, news director for KSQM, said, "KSQM staffs the radio station with volunteers who are immediately available to the community. Over 50 volunteers can be called upon in emergencies from the minor to a major disaster with the station equipped with emergency power to operate for days."
To learn more about KSQM, visit Web site www.ksqmfm.com.
The days when Civil Defense shelters dotted almost every city and were stocked with government-provided emergency rations, sanitary kits, first aid supplies and Geiger counters have long since passed.
Emergency management today requires individual preparedness.
There are no stockpiles of government provided food, medical supplies, gasoline or anything else waiting for us on the Olympic Peninsula when a disaster does strike.
Disaster response takes time
As we have seen several times over recent years, the federal response to a disaster that many people believe will be swift, takes days if not weeks to ramp up. That leaves local citizens and already stretched-thin emergency responders holding the bag in the short term.
Recently Sheriff Bill Benedict of Clallam County took over the operation of the county's Emergency Management Program. He and other emergency responders felt that this would make the program more effective and integrated with other critical programs such as search and rescue, not to mention the natural tie-in with law enforcement that has to occur in any major disaster.
Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregine heads up the day-to-day oversight of the county's Emergency Management Program (visit www.
clallam.net/emergency mgmt/index.asp). Peregine is one of the first to tell you to stock away more than just the standard three days of food, water, candles, a radio with fresh batteries, and medicine that is recommended nationally as a bare minimum.
Stock up now
Why stock up with supplies for more than three days?
In a significant earthquake, volcano eruption or tsunami, the major population centers will receive the first attention for help, not the sparsely populated rural fringe of the Olympic Peninsula. It is well known to local emergency responders that a week or more may pass before assistance starts to trickle into the Olympic Peninsula.
I have been told often that the Olympic Peninsula has roughly three days of food and gasoline on hand at any time in our stores. All of those resources have to be trucked across the Hood Canal bridge daily. If the bridge is out, then those trucks would have to lumber up U.S. Highway 101. If the weather is bad or the road is blocked, then those supplies won't be coming. Air or sea resupply in a major disaster is not feasible on any large scale.
A recent visit to the Federal Emergency Management Administration Web site showed current disaster operations being conducted in more than 33 states! Not an unusual week in the life of our own country.
Local resources exist
Local resources are available if we all take advantage of planning and preparing today for our own safety.
"Map Your Neighborhood" is a 90-minute class organizing neighbors to respond in the first hour of a disaster. Courses are taught in your neighborhood with the trainer and materials supplied by the county Emergency Management Office. Since June 2007, more than 700 citizens have been trained. To learn more, call Clallam County Emergency Management Program at 417-2525 or visit www.
clallam.net/emergency
mgmt/html/map_your_neighborhood.htm.
The American Red Cross of the Olympic Peninsula has offices in Carlsborg. The chapter provides traditional training in first aid and CPR as well as other emergency skills. Disaster preparedness materials can be downloaded directly from their Web site at www.
peninsularedcross.org.
The Clallam County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (CCARES) is the umbrella group that links amateur radio operators with the county's Emergency Management Program. This group of volunteers meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the county Emergency Operations Center located in the basement of the Clallam County Courthouse. To learn more about how you can participate, the CCARES Web site is www.olyham.com/html/ccares.html.
Information and news are the first critical needs that fail in any significant disaster. When a community is uninformed during a major event, the 9-1-1 phone lines quickly are overstressed, slowing emergency operations.
Radio station is on alert
Sequim is home to its own nonprofit community radio station.
KSQM 91.5 FM broadcasts around the clock throughout the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. During any emergency, KSQM has a critical partnership with police, fire and medical first responders, as well with the Clallam County Emergency Management Department.
Jeff Bankston, news director for KSQM, said, "KSQM staffs the radio station with volunteers who are immediately available to the community. Over 50 volunteers can be called upon in emergencies from the minor to a major disaster with the station equipped with emergency power to operate for days."
To learn more about KSQM, visit Web site www.ksqmfm.com.
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