What can the citizens of Lake Oswego expect from professional emergency responders such as the L.O. police and the L.O. Fire Department should a magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake* hit Oregon and Washington? The Fire Department has 12 full-time firefighters on duty in any 24-hour period plus a Duty Chief who can handle the emergency response load during any normal day; that’s 13 firemen to help a city of 37,000 individuals. When larger scale problems occur there are mutual aid agreements with fire departments in surrounding cities to join forces and help out. So what happens when we have our magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake and 10% (a conservative estimate) of the population needs help in one form or another?
Many people don’t realize this but our fire department will be stretched much too thin to help most of our citizens. Their priorities are to make sure all fire department personnel are safe, that their fire apparatus is in good working order and their fire station is safe and secure. The crews will then pull their apparatus out of the bays and check for radio communications. After that the Duty Chief determines which emergencies have the highest priority and dispatches the crews. If the radios are not operational, they would start patrolling their local area, stopping only for major life safety issues.
Who can you expect to get help from if the Fire Department is unable to come to your aid? It will be your neighbors. Neighbors will be responsible for protecting and preserving life and property in the earliest stages of a mass casualty event. They will also be responsible for rescuing and delivering care to victims near the incident site. Keep in mind that if you are not injured then you will be expected to help others.
The most important point to be made here is that YOU will be the first responder. Now is the time to take that CPR class, that CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training, that EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) class, etc. so you can help yourself, your own family and then neighbors when help is most needed. Historically, cities whose citizens and neighborhoods had established organized emergency preparedness plans and worked together fared significantly better than those that did not.
Lake Oswego Neighborhood Associations have developed a city-wide, city sponsored, Emergency Preparedness committee PREP LO (Prepare Lake Oswego). This committee’s purpose is to provide free information to neighborhoods about how to plan and prepare themselves and/or their neighborhoods for a variety of possible emergency situations. Several Lake Oswego neighborhoods including Palisades and Waluga have already begun successful pilot programs. To learn more about how you and your neighbors can get organized contact the LOFD at 503-635-0275. You can also set up a neighborhood gathering and invite the Assistant Fire Chief to speak about emergency preparedness.
(*) Magnitude 8-9 subduction zone earthquakes have occurred in the Pacific NW over 43 times in the past 10,000 years.
Having a plan and preparing in advance can turn an unbearable situation into a comfortable inconvenience.
Do you have a question about Emergency Preparedness?
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Prepared Northwest offers families in Oregon and Washington consultations and customized emergency preparedness plans that fit their needs and budget. Contact us today for a free initial consultation.
