2014 Vashon Preparedness Highlights

Presented at the 29 October 2014 Annual Meeting

  • VashonBePrepared partners sent three volunteers to assist in the response to the Oso landslide disaster. They worked in the Snohomish County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
  • Incorporated lessons learned from those volunteer responses in Vashon Emergency Operations Center logistics/resource request procedures.
  • Collaborated with Chief Hank Lipe and Assistant Chief George Brown to create a hypothetical major landslide scenario as a foundation for planning and exercising disaster response on Vashon.
  • Conducted a community leader summit meeting to assess Vashon’s preparedness needs.
  • Based on the summit, created a Marketing Task Force which developed three programs to improve readiness of Vashon homes, neighborhoods and businesses:
  1. An appeal for home preparedness with a twist, pets and livestock giving advice to their humans.
  2. Open for Business! workshops in partnership with the Vashon Chamber.
  3. A revitalized outreach for the Neighborhood Emergency Response Organization (NERO) and Are You Ready? campaigns.
  • Helped produce an eight page Winter Ready insert in the Beachcomber newspaper.
  • Completed the Vashon community annex to the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Served on the Plan Steering Committee.
  • Launched Vashon participation in the multi‐state Cascadia Rising earthquake exercise planned for 2016.
  • Began formation of a Vashon Auxiliary Communications Service, building on the partnership with the local Ham Radio community.
  • Participated in dozens of training sessions with our partners, such as:
    • Training at the King County Emergency Coordination Center,
    • Monthly drill nights for the Vashon EOC Team,
    • Extensive classes and drills conducted by Vashon’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program,
    • Many new Ham Radio operators licensed in the CERT program,
    • Formation of the nation's first Equestrian based CERT group.
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