COLUMN: How authorities coordinate evacuation during emergencies

Salem Reporter publishes a regular column from Mark Wardell, West Salem team leader for Salem’s Community Emergency Response Team, focusing on emergency preparedness and planning.

Last time, I addressed a question about evacuation during an emergency. In that article, I covered information about the types of emergencies that might cause an evacuation, I suggested making a go-bag and evacuation plan, and I talked about the three warning levels of an evacuation. This sparked a question from a reader, which resulted in an exchange of emails.

Q: Where do you evacuate to?  Are there evacuation centers in the Salem area?

A: Regarding evacuation centers in the Salem area, the availability and location of these shelters will depend entirely on the specific emergency.

When an evacuation order is issued, local authorities will provide clear directions on where to evacuate, and will include a list of designated shelters that are open and equipped to handle the needs of that particular situation.

These locations can vary depending on the type of event and the areas affected. Emergency management continuously reviews needs to ensure adequate resources are available based on potential risks and community needs.

Q: How do you navigate the roadways in an evacuation?

A: As for navigating roadways during an evacuation, this too will be guided by emergency responders. They will often designate specific evacuation routes to ensure the safest and most efficient flow of traffic. This information will be communicated through various channels, including emergency alerts, local news, and social media. It’s essential to follow the directions of emergency personnel during an evacuation.

Q: Do we have facilities with backup food and water in strategic places?

A: The current approach often emphasizes more flexible and adaptable strategies. The specific shelter locations we might be directed to will depend on the nature and location of the emergency.

Rather than pre-stocking every potential shelter, emergency management agencies often maintain caches of essential supplies – like food, water, blankets, and cots – that can be rapidly deployed to designated shelters as the need arises. These supplies are often stored in mobile units or centralized warehouses, allowing for efficient distribution to the specific locations activated during an event.

Additionally, the focus has shifted towards encouraging individuals and families to be more self-sufficient for the initial stages of an emergency, hence the emphasis on having a well-stocked Go Bag that can sustain you for at least 72 hours, as well as promoting the concept of being 2 Weeks Ready for a shelter-in-place situation. This helps to reduce the immediate demand on public shelters and allows resources to be focused on those with the greatest need.

CERT deployment exercise

On May 31, from 9:00 a.m. until noon, members of CERT in West Salem took part in a deployment exercise at one of our staging areas. Once members arrived and had checked in, the real fun began.

We have been doing exercises like this twice a year—spring and fall—for the past four years. These deployment exercises are designed in partnership with Portland NET (NET is their version of CERT) to review and test our skills and training as CERT members.

For this exercise, we had twenty-four CERT members, or near-CERT members, as we have a couple people who are still finishing the current class.

For this exercise, we set up our staging area, including a medical first aid area and operations area to respond to the scenario activities.

The team is then given a series of “injects” representing likely situations CERT members might be called on to respond to during a real emergency such as an earthquake, or as our scenario presented us with, the after effect of a tornado touching down in Salem.

Some of the injects we were asked to work on included how we might respond to a natural gas leak or a road blocked by a fallen tree. How we might respond to someone without power who needs oxygen, or a flipped car with injured people.

Obviously, this was just an exercise. None of these things actually happened, but our teams were deployed and set about flexing their CERT skills, at least in practice, troubleshooting the issues they were faced with.

One of the purposes of an exercise like this is to make mistakes. Do that now so when we are called on in a real-life situation, we’ll make fewer mistakes. Review and relearn our skills now so we can respond with muscle memory in the future.

At the end of our simulated deployment, we had a debrief where we discussed how the group felt things went, and what we’d like to see for future training or in the next exercise this coming fall.

Week by week to become 2 Weeks Ready

Only one more month to go. If you’ve been keeping up and following along with at least some of these suggestions, I know that you’re better prepared than you were before, and that is the goal. Keep it going.

Go back and pick up any weeks that you may have skipped and keep working on it week by week as you are able. And when you’re two weeks ready, it’s time to start on the next two weeks.

Week 44 – Our item this week is eating utensils; no explanation needed. Disposable is best so no precious water is used to wash them.

Week 45 – Make a complete place setting with disposable cups.

Week 46 – We all probably have a few of these items around: a cooler. Ice may be hard to come by, so investing in an iceless one may be a safe purchase. (Suggestion only: amzn.to/32gXBpm)

Week 47 – A sewing kit is this week’s item; you never know when you may need to mend something in a hurry. Be sure there are scissors in the kit.

Coming up next month

This month’s article was largely based on questions I received from readers. If there is a question you have, or something you would like to see me discuss, please reach out and let me know.

If you have any questions about this article, preparedness in general, or if you’d like to inquire about joining CERT or scheduling a CERT presentation for your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact me, Mark Wardell, at [email protected].

STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected].

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