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COMMUNItY NEwS | FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2014 7 6 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | MAY 2014 | COMMUNItY NEwS The EPC Has Lifesaving Plans The Emergency Preparedness Committee has plans. Plans to deal with any emergency that might overtake Four Seasons Beaumont. Under the guidance of Chair Anita Worthen and Vice-Chair Jean Sandoval the committee has developed an extensive manual of operations for itself and a shorter emergency handbook and first aid guide for residents. The handbooks explain how to make an individual emergency plan including preparations for evacuation, what supplies are likely to be needed if you stay home, how to dispose of waste, what to do about loss of water, gas and electricity — and many other life-sustaining needs. The committee has formed 10 teams of volunteers to provide assistance to residents in the event of an earthquake, hazardous materials spill, wild fire, loss of electrical power, severe weather, or any other emergency. (See "EPC Teams" page 7) Four Seasons' response to an emergency will be directed from the Rec Center North, where an incident commander and his assistant will coordinate the activities of the volunteer teams. Although personnel will change over time, currently the commander is John McLaughlin, a retired division fire chief who has extensive experience in dealing with emergencies, and the assistant commander Fred Weck, a retired Air Force colonel and facilities manager who dealt with similar matters in the military. Also in the Rec Center North will be a communications center where emergency radio traffic will be handled both by hand- held radios with volunteer teams inside the community and by ham radio with outside agencies. A first aid center is planned for the Card Room in the Lodge under the direction of Jan Thorsky who is a registered nurse. Patients will be evaluated in the center and those who need further treatment will be sent on to a hospital. All three locations will be supplied with electricity from an on-site emergency generator. Any of the three may have to be relocated if their sites are badly damaged. There are plans for that too, with the decision up to the incident commander. Each of the 10 teams needs more volunteers. Some were recruited during the Emergency Preparedness Expo on April 5, but more are needed. The expo saw demonstrations by a number of team members and several booths where vendors displayed emergency equipment and supplies. Loren DuChesne, the Board's liaison with the committee and a former policeman, said there is "a heavy education component" to the committee's activities. "We need to educate people to be self-sustaining whenever they can. We can only intervene in a limited number of cases — where people are too ill, too badly hurt, disabled. Otherwise they have to help themselves." To that end, Worthen urged all resident to take the Community Emergency Response Team training offered by the City of Beaumont and sponsored by the U.S. Homeland Security Department. She said she hoped the training will help residents understand the importance of the committee's work and prompt them to volunteer for one of the teams. "We have to be prepared. We need to get as many people involved as possible. It is such a joy to see this program going and people getting involved," she said. Each resident has been mailed a packet containing the emergency handbook, first aid guide, a medical information card and a green card. Sandoval and Worthen urged residents to fill out the medical information card and put it on their refrigerators with the magnets supplied in the packet. Sandoval, a retired registered nurse, said it is of great help to emergency responders to immediately know of any medical problems. The card will accompany the patient to the Four Seasons first aid center or outside medical facility to speed care there. The green card is to be placed in your home's front window if you need no help after an emergency. That will permit the survey teams to concentrate on those who need assistance. "We have been working on this not quite a year now, and we have action plans for each of the teams. But we still need more people. We have 15 on the survey team, but I'd like to have 50," Sandoval said. "We'd like the volunteers to have first aid and CPR training, but it's not necessary — and we'll train them if need be," she said. For the future, Sandoval hopes to have more training including a town hall meeting to get more residents involved, a "table top" disaster drill where the team members step through their duties, to be followed by a full-blown community disaster drill. "We want to create awareness of the problem and attract more volunteers," said DuChesne. foUr SEaSonS SPotLiGHt By Leighton McLaughlin Ten teams of volunteers have been formed by the Emergency Preparedness Committee to assist residents in case of an emergency. More volunteers are needed, particularly those with special skills or training in first aid, CPR, or other emergency procedures. But, as committee Vice-Chair Jean Sandoval said the team leaders provide classes for new members in the skills they need to cope with an emergency. Following are the duties of the teams after an emergency strikes. The team, their leaders and duties are: • communications, to provide fast and responsive radio communications in support of emergency efforts, both within Four Seasons and with outside agencies that can be of help. Team leader Dick Van Bree, assistant, Jim Peterson. • survey, to search the community for victims and assess damage, to remove residents from unsafe locations, to extricate lightly trapped victims and triage them for care. Leader, Jean Sandoval, assistant, Fred Weck. • First Aid, provide triage and first aid to victims in the first aid center working closely with community first responders. Leader, Jan Thorsky, assistant, Marty Freeman. • transportation, provide transportation for survey team members and victims, transport food, water and emergency supplies, remove debris from streets and access routes within the community. Leader, Jim Bushnell, assistant, Scott Britton. • Fire suppression, identify fire concerns, train residents in fire suppression, deal with fires resulting from an emergency. Leader, John McLaughlin, assistant, Rob Gardner. • Water, help residents clean water for drinking and bathing, ration swimming pool water for purposes other than drinking, control water mains to prevent flooding. Leader LaVerne Prophet, assistant, Roxanne Morrow. • sanitation, to protect public health, avoid spread of disease by developing methods of waste disposal, hygiene and sanitation. Leader and assistant positions open. • Environmental comfort zone, provide heating or cooling areas when hot or cold weather occurs during an emergency, primarily by using Recreational Vehicles. Leader Ron Morgan, assistant positions open. • Power, make sure electric power is available to the command, communications and first aid centers. Leader, Rudy Garcia, assistant position open. • Pet rescue, to reunite owners with lost pets, care for abandoned pets, retrieve pets running loose. Positions open. By Leighton McLaughlin EPC TEams To hElP you DuRING EmERGENCIEs EPC NEEds You! • • • • • • • • • •

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