By Andrew Beckman
The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) has proposed changes to the Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) program. NETs are Portland residents trained to provide emergency disaster assistance within their own neighborhoods after a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
While this remains a primary concern of the program, NETs are increasingly deployed in more localized or short-term events that are still life-impacting such as heat domes, forest fires, and the recent ice storm.
In all cases, it is neighbors helping neighbors that have the most direct impact on how well we weather these traumas. But different tools and organization are required to respond effectively to various situations and this proposed realignment of the program would address those differences.
Currently NETs are defined by neighborhood boundaries so some like St Johns are large geographically and others densely populated like the Pearl. In Linnton one team has covered all of the hills. Even the most robust team would be overwhelmed in a disaster.
PBEM is proposing that block-sized teams would be more effective in responding after an earthquake. Teams could also be organized by street, condo complex, or apartment building. In Linnton this could mean that several teams would oversee larger neighborhoods. Each would be made up of prepared neighbors and led by a NET member or other committed citizen. Every member would not need to be a fully trained NET member.
The proposed changes also include increased training opportunities for all community members. Citizens could train in specialties like search and rescue, hazmat awareness, and mass sheltering without becoming fully trained NET members. The process and monitoring of each neighborhood’s preparedness would be updated to align with the smaller team sizes.
These changes are in the proposal phase with many of the details to be worked out by PBEM and the current neighborhood teams. As they develop, Linnton NET will keep you up to date. In the meantime, think about the team you and your neighbors might form and how you can help our community.
A detailed description of the proposed changes can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/39e56ncm