By Molly Bull, Senior Communications Manager and Harmony Mabrey, Senior Operations Manager – Microsoft Disaster Response
Access to information is critical in time of emergency to help connect people with resources and minimize further hazards, damage, and confusion.
Communities around the world are organizing neighborhood and localized group initiatives for information and resource sharing to build local preparedness together. We would like to share some interesting examples of these activities to inform and hopefully inspire ideas for preparedness in your community.
Recently, our Senior Operations Manager, Harmony Mabrey, spoke with Deborah Greer and Karen Berge from West Seattle Be Prepared, a volunteer organization that leads the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs. The program serves as an important resource for West Seattle residents by establishing community meeting points and communication plans for sharing information in time of disaster.
So, what are the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs?
Essentially, they are locations around West Seattle that have been designated by neighborhood leaders and volunteers as community gathering sites if a major disaster makes it impossible to get information and help in the usual ways. The locations are easy to find and familiar to most people in each neighborhood. Today, all hub locations are outdoors because many buildings may be unsafe following an earthquake or similar type of disaster, however if in the future buildings have been checked for damage and deemed safe, they will very likely be used as shelters.
The purpose of these gathering places is to have a “low tech” way of connecting neighbors if regular “high tech” methods of communication become unavailable.
During a serious emergency, information-sharing within and between individual West Seattle neighborhoods is important. If West Seattle becomes isolated because of damage to either roads or bridges, having central gathering places will aid people in sharing resources, and having predetermined locations will allow each neighborhood to more quickly collect information regarding scope of damage. It will also help police and fire departments respond in a more organized manner given that their resources will likely be limited.
The hubs roughly began in 2006 and now total twelve locations throughout West Seattle, an area just south of metropolitan Seattle extending westward over the Puget Sound. Citywide there are now more than 50 hubs. They were established in direct response to instructions from the city and county officials who tell us that neighborhoods may need to be self-sufficient for 3 to 7 days following a major disaster.
Citywide Disaster Drill, 5/17/14: West Seattle hubs at Ercolini Park
Several drills and exercises are run each year to test the West Seattle hubs’ equipment which includes GMRS radios (general mobile radio service) – used to communicate hub-to-hub – and repeaters which amplify the signals across the city enabling communication with the Seattle Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Office of Emergency Management downtown. Ham operators at the EOC can then relay GMRS communications to first responders.
“The idea is to practice communicating between hubs and communicating with the Emergency Operations Centers citywide including agencies such as King County Police, King County Fire Department, the Red Cross, and others,” says Deborah Greer of West Seattle Be Prepared. “Practicing protocol to manage the traffic and recognize difficulties that will likely arise is important to address head-on before a disaster because these hubs will serve as amplifiers to get key information out to emergency managers in a real situation.”
Both Ham and GMRS radio operators, who are program volunteers, also check in weekly which helps build community across the Seattle area and ensures that the people who will be called upon during an emergency are able to operate the equipment and that it is configured properly.
West Seattle Emergency Hub supplies
Running exercises is important not only for testing protocol, but it also serves as a way to raise awareness of the hubs by getting the word out to the community and keeping volunteer engagement up. Group leaders are also looking to use block watch and established groups to foster community preparedness. Another program focus is to help individuals get personally prepared so that local neighborhoods will be more resilient if and when disaster happens.
To learn more visit http://westseattlebeprepared.org/.
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