News Release from: Sandy Fire District
THE GREAT OREGON SHAKEOUT WAS JUST THE FIRST STEP
Posted: October 19th, 2012 10:29 PM
The Great Oregon Shakeout was just the first step in preparing you, your family, your neighborhood and your office for disasters...
Register today for the ResilienceNW Conference (www.resiliencenw.org)
Tuesday, October 30th - Saturday, November 3rd
Located at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn
Registration is $20 and closes on Friday, October 26th
"We were incredibly successful in encouraging participation in the Great Shakeout. So successful in fact, that many people have been asking for more information." Said Alice Busch, Sandy Fire District. "Questions like, what if I have pets? and how would I communicate with loved ones? What's the best way to store food and water? and How do I create a disaster plan?"
Busch says that "These are all great questions, and demonstrate the importance of planned exercises like the Great Shakeout." Busch's hope is that people will turn to the professionals for the answers. To capitalize on this possibility, she and a diverse team of private, public, faith-based, and non-profit organizations planned the ResilienceNW conference to occur a two weeks after the Shakeout.
From a quick glimpse of the ResilienceNW conference's online schedule, it certainly appears poised to offer a breadth of solutions for the very questions people are asking. With presenters from across the country, the ResilienceNW conference likely has something for everyone.
Talk to a few of the conference planners, and they are quick to point to the fact that people who are practicing skills to garden in challenging climates, or learning how to provide psychological first aid, or writing plans for continuity of operations to protect their businesses from economic or other shocks, all share something in common. "They are all actively engaged in disaster resilience building activities" says Jeremy O'Leary, a Permaculturalist, and leader in prepareoregon.org a website companion to disaster resiliency neighborhood training.
Busch states that studies have shown that while individual preparedness is critical prior to a disaster, it is community resilience that is the key to a speedy recovery. "Disasters are those 'all hands on deck' kind of incidents where the entire population has an asset to lend to recovering from the event, and let's face it, we will need everyone to pitch in, and everyone can." Busch's point seems to be that no matter what your interest or skill set, it lends itself to disaster resiliency in some way.
This approach is evident in the course content for the ResilienceNW conference. To illustrate this point, mixed in with 'Pet Preparedness' and 'Survival Skills' are classes titled "Engaging the Community" and "Neighborhood Food Security."
"A recent study shows more than 75% of households have little or no emergency plans," said James Roddey, Director of ReadySetPrepare and Friday's keynote luncheon speaker at ResilienceNW. "Yet, 90% of Americans live in places at significant risk from big disasters, and it's only when everything has gone wrong that we realize we're on our own. Attending ResilienceNW 2012 is a good place to start learning how and why to prepare."
The low $20 registration fee that includes all 5 conference days, networking events, and keynote lunches on Friday and Saturday was made possible through an Urban Areas Security Initiative grant.
Visit www.resiliencenw.org for session schedules, registration info, and more.
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