Happily living in his Alameda neighborhood home with wife and kids, Ryan Baker is typical of a growing number of young-family residents in the area. Not so typical, though, is Ryan’s dedication to helping neighbors help one another in times of trouble as volunteer team leader of the local “NETs”—the Beaumont-Wilshire/Alameda unit of Portland’s Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NETs). Prompted by an inquiry about the city’s NETs program by resident Peggy Ellis, the board invited Ryan to speak at BWNA’s general meeting in December.
The dominant theme of Ryan’s motivating presentation was that the most important first step in emergency preparation is to take care of ourselves by organizing our blocks—i.e., neighbors meeting with neighbors to formulate a plan: Do we all know each other and have updated contact information for everyone? Who among us has skills and/or equipment that would be useful in the event of a catastrophic disaster? What kind and amount of supplies should be stocked away for each resident in each dwelling? How will we communicate with each other? To that end, Ryan encourages neighbors to research information on these sites:
Backing up that crucial first line of support in a disaster—you and your neighbors—is where Portland’s NETs program comes in. The mission of NETs is to help a neighborhood get along for a week or two if basic services are unavailable. NETs volunteers are trained by city experts to communicate with each other during emergencies via hand-held radios, and each local NET has its own radio communication plan along with additional training in emergency disaster assistance, first aid, organizing helpers, communicating with Portland Fire & Rescue and Police, accessing emergency supply caches, and other needs.
Each local NET devises its own radio communication plan. Here’s an excerpt from the Beaumont-Wilshire/Alameda NET Operations Plan:
“In the event of a major emergency in which normal communication channels (phone, text, internet) are not available, and in which team members are self-deploying, team members will check in by radio on the assigned channel at 15 minutes past the hour, each hour for the first three hours.”
During Q&A, Ryan candidly admitted that, while almost 100 B-W and Alameda residents have taken the 30-hour NETs training course offered free of charge by the City of Portland and satisfied the minimum-required 12 hours of annual participation in NET-related community service projects, active involvement has waned over the course of the pandemic. BWNA urges those who have already gone through NET training to greet the New Year with a revitalized commitment to participation and for new volunteers to contact Ryan (bwanetpdx@gmail.com) regarding their desire to serve. Ryan told the Zoom audience at December’s meeting that he is also available to facilitate block meetings. Additionally, former BWNA board member Bill Markwart (wemarkwart@aol.com), in attendance at the meeting, volunteered to serve as contact person for those interested in amateur ham radio training.
This is just the start of what needs to be a sustained, long-term commitment for all of us to prepare for emergencies and disasters. BWNA will be publicizing more steps and ideas in the months to come.