On June 1st the City of Pacific will host its first annual Community Dialog on Emergency Management. So now some people are asking “What is a Community Dialog?” It is an opportunity for you to find out where we are at in preparedness and where we want to go with it. Most of all it is an opportunity for you to participate in this discussion ask questions and learn how you can be involved.
The City of Pacific believes that for our community to be prepared, we must engage all of our community. Individual citizens, business and the Non Profit community must all be engaged and working with government. We must work to identify and close gaps as well as provide training and other opportunities that engage our community. When disasters occur, we cannot just expect FEMA to ride in on a white horse to save us, we must be prepared to take care of ourselves. If our region was struck by a “Japan level” disaster our traditional partners will all be busy themselves, to survive it is essential we have trained citizens and engaged business. This community dialog will be the kickoff of those efforts.
Over this past year, the City of Pacific finished a Volunteer Management Plan that creates a three tiered system of volunteers. On the 3rd level or tier are your emergent volunteers that you know will show up during times of need. These may be scouts, church groups or individuals who just want to help. These emergent volunteers are critical to response to and recovery from a disaster but can also be a problem if they are not managed properly. Our plan calls for identifying some of these emergent volunteers and provide some training opportunities so they can be more effective. Some of these individuals may also opt to move into Tier 2. These volunteers may take mid management type roles as strike team leaders, volunteer reception center activities or other roles that require a higher level of training. The Tier 1 volunteers will receive extensive training and will take community leadership and possibly even ICS positions as needed. As a large scale disaster may require for our community to be on its own for several days, it is critical we have the resources to properly respond to, recover from and manage a major disaster.
I am proud of this community and the roles our citizens and business have played in the past. As we move into this new phase of preparedness I am excited by the possibilities. What we are planning is unlike anything in our Nation for a community our size; however it would not be the first time we have led the way in emergency management or preparedness. I fully expect that this plan will be used as a role model for preparedness across this nation.
Communty Dialog on Emergency ManagmentWed. June 1st 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Pacific / Algona Community Center (Gym)
100 3rd Ave SE
Pacific, WA 98047
Free Stone Soup Dinner at 5:30
