ARE YOU READY? Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs team with local school for preparedness prototype

By Tracy File
West Seattle Weblog editor

The earthquake that has killed 1000’s in Turkey and Syria is an enormous catastrophe that reminds us all on a private degree that preparedness is significant. It may be life-saving each throughout and after a quake. Native preparedness advocates have lengthy been working to seek out new methods to get extra folks to prepare.

Towards that purpose, a latest family-education assembly at Gatewood Elementary College doubled as a type of prototype for volunteer preparedness educators to make use of for future gatherings in different faculty/neighborhood settings.

Volunteers from the Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs arrange tables to share “City Survival Abilities” – tips on how to put together your loved ones, your faculty, your private home, your group, in addition to “tech hacks” you should use.

In case you aren’t conversant in the Emergency Communication Hubs, right here’s an evidence. In brief, they’re spots the place volunteer Hub Captains will arrange communication-coordination spots if a catastrophe takes out regular channels of communication. One simple technique to begin your preparedness journey is to know your nearest hub location (right here’s the West Seattle map) – and if there’s not one close by, get entangled and begin one! On the latest Gatewood Elementary assembly, contributors milled across the tables, studying concerning the Hubs and about particular factors of preparation.

Ann Forrest from Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs helped coordinate the assembly.

She stated that in a bigger venue, they might have as many as 17 academic stations. As one other volunteer, Deb Barker, confirmed us, a number of the suggestions are easy, like ensuring you all the time have footwear by your mattress in case you’re sleeping when catastrophe strikes and it’s a must to escape by damaged glass and different particles. Additionally – guarantee there’s no furnishings (like unsecured bookshelves) that may fall on you. This straightforward listing circulated on the assembly provided recommendations:

Partnership with institutional leaders, when relevant, is vital in making a plan. Gatewood principal Kyna Hogg defined to the households on the assembly that they do a number of sorts of drills often, together with an evacuation drill.

The households additionally heard from Forrest about Hub operations – together with what they’re not meant for, in addition to what they’re. Instance: Hubs received’t be locations to get meals/water, however they are going to be locations to attach you with details about discovering it in the event you want it. And a degree of delight: West Seattle has extra hubs than some other a part of the town, because the motion acquired its begin right here.

So what’s subsequent? A longtime West Seattle chief within the hub group, Cindi Barker, stresses that this was a pilot, and meant to see whether or not folks discovered it helpful and attention-grabbing. Thus far, she advised us, suggestions indicated that it was, in order that they’re working towards one other faculty assembly, presumably for West Seattle Elementary. From there, the idea may unfold, In case you have questions, right here’s tips on how to contact Seattle Emergency Hubs.