1.04 Neighborhood Emergency Plan:

During wide spread emergencies such as in hurricanes, earthquakes and floods, it is possible that state and federal assistance would be unavailable for the misplaced and injured for several days or even weeks. The goal of the neighborhood emergency plan is for members, if necessary, to function independent from state assistance.

This program encourages planning sessions and is designed to help people prepare and cope emotionally and physically with local disasters.

The following requirements should be met by each neighborhood unit:

• Rescue people whose lives are threatened.
• Provide first aid.
• Account for the condition and location of all members.
• Provide emergency water, food, clothing, and housing.
• Restore normal living conditions as quickly as possible.
• Prevent or limit property damage.
• Fortify social, emotional, and spiritual strength.
• Be able to report to the next higher organization level the following information:
• Your name, title, unit, and how you can be reached.
• Description, location, and magnitude of the emergency.
• Names of any injured, missing or dead, and contact information for their next of kin.
• Exact location and extent of property damage.
• Number of persons needed to provide assistance and specific tasks to be done.
• Number of people who need skilled medical help.
• Actions being taken to help those in distress.
• Number of members available to provide assistance, including those with specific skills.
• Assistance needed that is unavailable in the unit affected, including medicine, food, water, clothing, shelter, or fuel

These goals are to be accomplished in the following manner:

• Organize neighborhoods in groups of 10 to 12 family units. Because of the variety and diverse talents of large numbers of people, the overall success of this plan should increase with the number of adjacent neighborhoods involved.
  Meet and decide on a neighborhood chairman. If you are able to organize a number of neighborhoods, choose a leader over this larger area. Use natural boundaries such as voting districts boundaries where large numbers of people already know one another and work well together.
• Train as many people from the area neighborhoods as possible in basic civil defense (sheltering, fallout meters, evacuation, etc.), CPR and first aid. Utilize instructors from your city or county Emergency Management / Civil Defense Dept., Red Cross, CERT, Community Education, or your own neighborhoods. *All scouts seeking Eagle level have merit badges in emergency preparedness. Utilize these well-qualified individuals. Train a team in a 50-hour advanced first aid course. Choose individuals who have a natural interest and inclination towards first aid, but not professional medical personnel who would be required to work on a state level.
• Make a list of all heavy equipment and drivers that would be available to the neighborhood in an emergency.
• Teach all members the proper line of authority in an emergency and how the neighborhoods should relate to the state emergency management system.

Establish a neighborhood family unit program structured in the following manner:

• The area chairman will map and divide the area into units of 10 to 12 families living in close proximity to one another. (Families with special needs such as illness, elderly, widows, etc. may need to be placed with more capable units.) The units will each be assigned a number for identification.
• During the initial area meeting each unit will be assigned a unit leader who, during the following week, will call and organize a home meeting for all the families in his unit.
• During the home meeting, each unit should make assignments to individuals who could best meet the needs of that unit. All units will not have the same needs, but they might include some or all of the following:
• Vote for a chairman and secretary.
• Make a list of the possible emergencies that their unit might face. Don't exclude the possibility of earthquake, war or terrorist attack.
• Make a list of the resources of that unit. Include tractors, trucks, 4-wheel drive vehicles and those people capable of driving them. List people trained in first aid, civil defense, search and rescue, construction, and any other skills that might need to be used in an emergency. If possible, check basements for fallout shelter protection. Encourage neighbors to consolidate their resources.
• Make a list of each family's blood types, special medical needs, next of kin, personal physician, place of work, and contact information for a friend or family member out of state. Have the chairman or secretary keep a copy of this list in a safe place such as in a labeled vile in his or her refrigerator.
• Assign a couple that could do a damage and injury survey. If possible they should have access to a walkie-talkie so this information could be immediately reported to the local authorities.
• List all children going to the same school. Write a request that these children be released from school to a pre-assigned person or persons who are normally at home and are well known to the children. Include all the parent's signatures and give this list to the principal now, where he will keep it on file. In case some parents are not at home or are otherwise detained this will assure that the children will be gathered and cared for until the return of their parents. Ask the school to keep this list on file as well as on a computer, as the school may not have access to the computer in some kinds of emergencies.
• Assign someone to keep materials on hand to make a temporary outside toilet for their unit in case the sewers have been damaged.
• Assign someone to make up a menu for several days of mass community cooking for the unit, preferably using items that would be naturally rotated in most homes. Suggest that this person assign her neighbors to keep different ingredients for these menus on hand at all times.
• Assign a couple to familiarize themselves with the gas turn off valve at each home in their unit. Have them keep the tool for this purpose ready and available at all times for themselves and all other families who are not at home. *(Make sure they know that gas should be turned off only when there is suspicion the line has been broken. Once gas is turned off, it must only be turned on by the fuel company, as there is distinct danger of explosion or fire if turned on improperly.
• Assign individuals for the care of pre-school and elementary age children of the unit in the event the parents are injured or have other assignments in the community. Utilize older children to help with the younger children.
• Suggest that each person choose an outside gathering place for their family in case their home is damaged. Decide on a place to put a note-keeping box, so members of the family and unit can leave communications to one another. This information would be necessary to keep someone from entering a dangerously damaged home in search of people who have already left the area.
• Use this meeting to train members in emergency management skills.
• Encourage the head of each family to prepare a document containing pertinent financial & personal information and suggest that they keep this information in a safe, fire and water-proof container in their home.
• Encourage families to each buy an inexpensive walkie-talkie. Several neighborhoods could go together to buy a radiation meter. Radiation levels for the area could then be transmitted over a pre-assigned channel to people sheltering in their basements or shelters. Familiarize your units with evacuation routes, basic sheltering principals, nuclear effects and survival skills.
• Ask ham radio operators in your area to help with your unit’s communications plans. In an emergency, they can receive valuable information that could then be sent to your people through your CB's or walkie-talkies.
• The units should meet together as often as they feel necessary. Once every 4 months should be adequate after the initial planning stage. During these meetings children should be familiarized with the plans and included in discussions and decisions where possible. Try to keep a positive and happy outlook and refrain from frightening them. This would be a good time to talk about updating 72-hour kits, reviewing evacuation plans, and encouraging members to have fire and earthquake drills.
• In a large-scale emergency, all units should report to the proper state and local emergency organizations.

The plan may seem idealistic, but it is in place and working in many areas of the country.

Remember that POST EVENT SURVIVAL is
dependent upon PRE-EVENT PREPAREDNESS.

1.05 Psychological Preparation for Life in a Shelter