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2010

2010 Activities, Events and Accomplishments

Here is a month-by-month list of activity highlights and the major updates to our site during 2010. As with other archived content from our old What’s New page, it most likely hasn’t been updated since it was written, so please disregard any broken links or descriptions in future tense!

December 2010

  • On December 8th, three members of our group attended the “Hospital without Walls” meeting and participated in the discussions. You’ll find coverage on the West Seattle Blog and the West Seattle Herald. We’ll keep tracking this issue and will add updates as we obtain more information. Visit the Medical & First Aid page of our site to see what we have so far; we’ve added some new information following the Summit in November. If you know of additional resources we should include, please let us know!
  • Members of our group have been invited to attend “Hospital Without Walls”, a meeting on December 8th that will focus on emergency care in the event of a disaster.
  • Here’s a link to West Seattle Blog’s coverage of the award presentation!
  • Exciting news! We’re honored that our group, West Seattle Be Prepared is receiving a West Seattle Volunteer Recognition Award! The award presentation is Sunday, December 5th, at 1 PM in the Junction. We’re looking forward to it and hope you can join us!
  • On our calendar, we’ll have an informational table at the Mayor’s Town Hall forum at Youngstown Arts on Thursday, December 2nd, starting at 6 PM. Hope you’ll stop by to see us! We have great (FREE) emergency preparedness materials including postcard maps showing the emergency communication hub locations; we also have coloring book pages for kids!
  • In light of the recent snowy and gusty weather, here are a few of the best resources we know of:
    • West Seattle Blog is publishing realtime reports on our local conditions and happenings throughout West Seattle! This includes photos, video and reader contributions.
    • This useful link from the Seattle Department of Transportation includes district snow maps showing which routes will be cleared! You can pick up a printed brochure that includes the Seattle snow map at the Seattle Public Libraries or the Neighborhood Service Centers.
    • You can get great regional information from RPIN.org; either visit their website or sign up to receive news alerts via email!

November 2010

  • Great to see so many of you at the Summit last Saturday!  Many thanks to those who attended. West Seattle was well-represented!
  • On Facebook? We’ve added more details about the upcoming Summit on our Events page there: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=events#!/event.php?eid=124139400981058. Facebook users can RSVP via that page as well as via the email/phone addresses noted in our earlier posting. We hope you’ll be able to attend!
  • Interested in learning more about Emergency Communication Hubs? On November 20th, we will be participating in an Emergency Hub Group Summit. Here are more details:
    Saturday, November 20, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Seattle EOC, 105 5th Ave S., Seattle 98104, Emergency Hub Group Summit – Learn how Seattle communication hubs operate. Special session on how new groups can get started begins at 8:30 a.m. Main topic: Seattle-King County Public Health’s Medical Reserve Corp. To attend, RSVP to snap@seattle.gov or contact Mark Howard at 206-684-7727.
  • The November edition of the SNAP Monthly Connection newsletter has been published; we’ve added a link to our Training & Education page as well as well as this page, as it contains information about upcoming classes.
  • It was great to meet some of you at Gathering of Neighbors on November 6th. Thanks for stopping by! West Seattle Blog snapped a photo of our booth in case you missed us.
  • For those of you who weren’t aware of it, City Light has launched an online Outage Management System (OMS). which displays outage information in our city. Visit http://seattle.gov/light/sysstat/ for details.

October 2010

  • We have news! We’ve registered to have a booth at the Gathering of Neighbors! GoN is on November 6th, 11 AM to 4 PM at Chief Sealth International High School (2600 SW Thistle). It’s a great opportunity to talk with us, attend workshops, meet other community groups, meet or catch up with your neighbors, and see the newly remodeled high school. We hope to see you there!
  • Now that fall/winter weather has seemingly arrived, we want to highlight the city’s Take Winter By Storm website; it has lots of useful information in a variety of languages. Year ’round, you can also find this link in our Resources section, on the Safety Tips for Emergencies page. Among the most useful resources on this page (in our minds) are the Emergency Contact Cards…if you don’t have one yet, visit this page and download it! Or, stop by our booth or the city’s SNAP/emergency preparedness booth at upcoming community events to pick up free printed wallet cards!
  • Need training in how to prepare for emergencies? There is one more FREE West Seattle preparedness class scheduled this year; it’s on November 6th at the SW Library, 9010 35th Ave SW, 10:30 to noon. Visit http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/, you’ll find class schedules in the “Hot Topics” section.
  • Also, on November 6th is West Seattle’s “Gathering of Neighbors” (GON) event; at the moment, our group is NOT scheduled to have a booth there,      but we do plan to take the opportunity to go. It’s a good opportunity to learn about community and neighborhood groups, and to meet your West      Seattle neighbors. Hope to see you there! More about GON at http://www.dnda.org/events/gathering-of-neighbors-2010.
  • Added a link to an online exhibit from the Burke Museum, “The Big One – Earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest” that Cindi discovered. It’s on      our Additional Information page.
  • Cindi Barker will be giving a short presentation about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs at the October 21st meeting of the      Genesee-Schmitz Neighborhood Council; here’s a link to the informational flyer.
  • A huge thank you to the actors and other volunteers who participated in the training exercise on Saturday, October 16th! Here’s a link to West Seattle Blog’s coverage. Visit our West Seattle Be Prepared Facebook group page for coverage of the Queen Anne-Magnolia-Interbay and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.
  • On Saturday, October 16th, from 9 AM – noon, we are participating in a citywide emergency preparedness drill, “Sound Shake, Day 2”, based on a catastrophic earthquake scenario, complete with aftershocks. This drill builds on the “Rattle In Seattle” drill in May 2010. In West Seattle, we will activate three of the nine Emergency Communications Hubs. To make this as realistic as possible, we have invited citizen “actors” to participate; their roles will be to report damage, request assistance or offer resources so that we can test our communication procedures and our radio systems.      We’ll be at the Admiral, Fauntleroy or Highland Park Hubs and would like to invite West Seattle residents, (especially SNAP groups and Block Watch members) to watch, so you can see how the hubs will function. This drill involves multiple volunteer community groups and responders, Ham Radio operators, the Office of Emergency Management, hospital staff and other organizations; more details are provided in this press release.
  • A reminder: there are only three more SNAP emergency preparedness classes in 2010! The next one in West Seattle is on November 6th from 10:30 AM – noon. Can’t wait? On October 16th, there will be one at the Capitol Hill Library from 10:30 AM – noon. On October 21st, there is one at the Lake City Library from 6:30 – 7:45 PM. You’ll find links to more information in our September section below.
  • The Office of Emergency Management released the October 2010 Monthly Connection newsletter this first week of October. It has preliminary information about the emergency drill in which we’ll be participating on October 16th, more details about the SoundShake 2010 event on October 6th-7th, as well as updates about upcoming SNAP classes and other disaster training.

 

September 2010

  • We have no more outreach “tabling” events this month, but will be participating in a citywide emergency communications drill in mid-October. Regional SoundShake 2010 events are also coming up in October.
  • A new noteworthy Neighborhood Preparedness page has been added to the Office of Emergency Management site; it has links to several community preparedness documents. These include a detailed description of the cross-community pilot project that includes our West Seattle group. The Office of Emergency Management has created and posted a map on this page that shows our West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs in the context of local potential vulnerabilities/hazards and resources.
  • The Office of Emergency Management has added several other new items to their website recently; see the “Hot Topics” section at http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/. Highlights include a special SNAP continuing education workshop, Effective Drills and Exercises on Wednesday, September 29th (the registration deadline is on Monday, September 27th). More Leadership Academy sessions are coming up in October. Registration links and information for the Fall Skills Training workshops (which we mentioned last month) and the three remaining 2010 SNAP classes are also linked from this page. Note that space is limited and all of these classes tend to fill up quickly.
  • Earlier this month, the Office of Emergency Management’s Fall 2010 quarterly newsletter was released (newsletters are linked from the Hot Topics section at http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/).
  • Our group’s last summer outreach event was Alki Family Fun Day on Sunday, September 12th, at the Statue of Liberty Plaza on Alki Beach. Good to see so many of you!

August 2010

  • Interested in role-playing the part of a disaster victim? If so, the NW Citizen Corp Expo on Saturday, August 28th, can use you! Here is a flyer with more details. It’s a great way to have fun, as well as help disaster responders practice their skills.
  • We enjoyed talking with some of you at the SW Precinct Picnic on August 21st; thanks for dropping by! We had a great time at the booth we shared with the West Seattle Block Watch Captains’ Network. It was great to see the SPD officers from the SW precinct and so many other West Seattle community groups. You’ll find event coverage on the West Seattle Blog.
  • If you missed seeing us at our recent summer outreach events, you can pick up free Emergency Communication Hubs postcards at either of the Neighborhood Service Centers. These include a map of the hub locations; keep a copy in your emergency kit, on your frig or in your vehicles!
  • The Office of Emergency Management will be announcing their SNAP Skills Training fall 2010 schedule of classes the week of August  23rd. We’ve linked their flyer to our West Seattle Be Prepared Facebook page. If you aren’t a Facebook member, here’s a link to it that doesn’t require      Facebook membership. We’ve also posted the July-August SNAP newsletter on our Training & Education page; it includes a list of fall events.
  • Night Out against Crime was on August 3rd! Hope you had an opportunity to talk to your neighbors about preparedness at the neighborhood level. See our Neighborhood Planning page for more info about ways that neighborhoods can help each other get prepared!


June – July 2010

  • We had a great time at the West Seattle Summer Festival July 9th-11th! Thanks to those of you who stopped by our table to say hi.
  • Interested in local ham radio? We’ve added a new link to the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club from our Other Communication Sources page in our Resources section.
  • We enjoyed meeting some of you at the Junction Health Fair on June 13th! Here’s West Seattle Blog’s coverage of the event, including a picture of our booth.
  • Thanks to those of you who stopped to see us at the Morgan Junction Community Festival (MoCA) on June 12th. West Seattle Blog’s coverage of the festival includes a photo our booth.
  • We had a great time at the reFRESH Festival on June 5th; we were glad that a lot of people stopped by our table! Check out the extensive coverage and photos of the event.
  • KUOW radio recently broadcast a special series about earthquakes, “On”; it is now linked from their website. We’ve also posted a link on our Facebook group page.
  • Our West Seattle group provided an update to the Seattle City Council “Regional Development & Sustainability Committee” on June 4th. Ours is one of three neighborhoods leading the way on establishing emergency communication hubs. We’ve linked to video of the presentation; click the 6th link, “Emergency Management”; the session regarding the emergency communication hubs is approximately 30 minutes long.

Our Facebook group, West Seattle Be Prepared, now has 285+ members. We hope you will join, if you haven’t already! We frequently post new articles, announcements and other information there.

 

What’s New: May 2010

What’s New: April 2010 – Disaster Preparedness Month!

  • Lots of interesting things have been happening this month! West Seattle Blog has been running a nightly series on emergency preparedness. We are linking to these from our Facebook group page, and you can also find them all archived here!
  • We’ve added new links throughout our site, especially on our Official Planning Resources, Training & Education, and the Additional Information pages. We recently learned of several great resources, including the Red Cross’ Safe and Well database. We also found and some fun and challenging emergency preparedness quizzes!
  • On April 24, several members of our group participated in a training exercise with ACS ham operators and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) staff. This exercise is in preparation for the citywide drill on May 22 mentioned above.
  • Posted a new activity report for our group; you’ll find it on the 2010 Events & Activities page.
  • We helped plan and attended the citywide Community Preparedness Summit on April 17th.
  • On April 13th, we gave a presentation to the Admiral Neighborhood Association.
  • On April 14th, we attended a Parks Department meeting and updated them about our efforts.
  • Members of our team attended the 12th Annual Communications Academy on April 10-11th.
  • We have several new members coming on board this month. Stay tuned for more details.
  • We created signs (see below) for the emergency communication hubs! Look for these at upcoming events that we attend. You will also see these in the event of a disaster; keep in mind that it could be necessary to relocate a hub due to unforeseen circumstances, so recognizing our signs could be important.

What’s New: February – March 2010

  • As noted, in mid-February we started a discussion group on Facebook, West Seattle Be Prepared! We also announce upcoming events and post links to relevant information here. We’ve added some info to help you get started here.
  • We created printed postcard maps of the hubs that are great for posting on your refrigerator, keeping in your vehicles, or for adding to your emergency kits! These are free while supplies last; you can pick them up at either of the West Seattle neighborhood service centers. You can also pick them up at our upcoming events or contact us if you would like some!
  • On March 11th, members of our group gave a presentation about the West Seattle emergency communication hubs to a new preparedness group on Capitol Hill (CHiPP); here are their group’s meeting notes.
  • On March 23rd, our group attended a very interesting presentation by the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) about the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, and how lessons learned from those might be relevant to our area. We posted a brief summary on our Facebook page. As well, the group that presented has the presentations posted at: http://www.crew.org/.
  • Added our first 2010 event to our calendar page; we had an informational table at Community Harvest’s Seed Swap ‘n Sale at South Seattle Community College on Saturday, February 20th. There is coverage of the event including a photo of us by the West Seattle Blog.
  • West Seattle Blog also ran a feature about the West Seattle Emergency Communication Hubs and our group following the huge earthquake in Chile in late February.
  • On the subject of calendars, SNAP has recently announced their spring schedule of classes and published a new newsletter; we’ve added these to our Training & Education page. Want to learn about ham radios and other emergency communications? We’ve also added a link on that page to details about 12th Annual Communications Academy on April 10-11th.
  • You’ll also find a few new articles on our Additional Information page.

Latest major website update, January 2010

  • Updated icons and more maps!
  • We’ve added a new emergency communication hub in Highland Park!
  • We’ve added additional close-up maps of the individual hub locations.
  • We also changed our placemark icons on the maps! We’ve worked with other neighborhood groups to create a recognizable emergency communication hub icon that can be used city-wide on maps and signs. Note that on the maps, the base of the new icon is the pointer of the placemark (not the inner circle).
  • We’ve added a “What’s New” page, for those of you who just want to quickly see what has changed. Note that we only highlight important changes; you’ll find that we continually make small edits and changes.
  • Added another activity report to the SW District Council; it covers December 2009 – January 2010.
  • Posted our July-November activity report on the 2009 Activities & Accomplishments page. Check it out! It includes photos, as well as updates on cross-neighborhood radio testing.
  • Posted a summary report, Public Engagement Project Final Report, we received following the Healthcare Decisions in Disasters event that we attended on April 25th, 2009. The report details results from several public meetings where pandemic flu medical care prioritization scenarios were discussed.
  • Added videos! We posted the remaining segments (Government Planning and Community Planning) of the West Seattle Emergency Preparedness Seminar. The Government Planning segment is especially interesting, as it provides excellent background and details about how the city departments and agencies will respond immediately following an emergency.
  • Updated the Other Communities page to include a new hub map for Queen Anne and Magnolia and a link to their new website.
  • Added lots of new links on the Individual Household Resources page including more resources for children, parents and seniors.

2009 website updates

  • Added a link on the Additional Information page to the vivid and controversial Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) video showing the simulated collapse of the Seattle seawall and the Alaskan Way viaduct during an earthquake; it was released in late October.
  • Added links to the Additional Information page: two from FEMA (2009 survey findings and a video PSA, “World Upside Down”), and one link about a new preparedness-related reality TV show.
  • The Training & Education page in the Resources section was updated with new classes, including CPR/First Aid classes for pets and the fall-winter schedule of SNAP classes.
  • Updated our links to the Psychological First Aid resources on the Training & Education page, after the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) site was redesigned and relaunched. They also have some useful resources for children there.
  • We updated our links to the CARD website on our Other Communities page; they revamped their excellent site to include even more information, including translation support.

Added links to the Additional Information page from the Office of Emergency Management website; these include both volumes of the “Seattle Disaster Readiness & Response Plan”, the “Seattle Hazard Identification & Vulnerability Analysis” and the “Seattle All Hazards Mitigation Plan”.