INSIDE

PREP continues to plow ahead

By Annette Hamm

The PREP (Point Roberts emergency preparedness committee) has been working to activate a community self-sufficiency plan for Point Roberts. Why? Living in this wonderful rural peninsula attached to Canada, isolated from the mainland United States, many of us forget the realities we will face when some natural disaster eventually befalls us.

Efforts of the committee are showing considerable results. Whatcom County Mt. Baker branch of the American Red Cross has donated a trailer stocked with emergency supplies. PREP committee members joined volunteers from around Whatcom County to assist in outfitting our trailer and trailers for other communities.

Supplies in the trailer include: provisions for cooking; cots and blankets, storage for long term food items, temporary shelter and first aid equipment. Our trailer will be permanently located in Point Roberts to facilitate a quick response when needed.

People will have their first glimpse of the trailer in the July 4 parade, and on July 21, the trailer will be officially dedicated to the community with an open house to be held in the Marketplace parking lot.

In the past month, PREP sponsored a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training course with instructors for the program imported from the Whatcom County mainland. Thirteen residents from the Point attended 12 hours of classes, learning the basic theory of emergency response, and practicing rescue skills. The committee hopes to engage other residents in future courses.

Facts learned at the CERT course:

It is often 5 – 7 days before outside help arrives after an emergency
It can take two weeks for professional emergency crews to get to isolated areas

People need to prepare for no professional assistance or relief supplies for up to 10 days or longer (minimally).

The first responders in any emergency are almost always neighbors or passers by.

Steve Wolfe has helped redesign an information website for Point Roberts Emergency Preparedness. Please visit the new website at: www.prepgroup.org. Input from the community is welcome.
PREP asks that anyone who has not yet actively responded or been contacted by phone for the needs survey email PREP at info@prepgroup.org and request the survey form. The form will be emailed back for downloading and can, once completed, be sent or dropped off at the Aydon Wellness Clinic.

Previous members of the original PREP committee and new members are being sought. Meetings take place the first Tuesday of every month at the community center.