Vashon holds island wide emergency drill
Community a model for disaster preparedness
King County, WA – On Saturday October 13th Vashon Island will test disaster response skills and its preparation for the 'big one.' The second annual Island-wide drill will be held from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. all across Vashon Island. This drill is being jointly sponsored by VashonBePrepared (external link) and Vashon Fire and Rescue with support from the King County Office of Emergency Management.
“We are proud to support the residents of Vashon Island in their extraordinary efforts to become better prepared for emergencies or disaster,” said Jeff Bowers, Acting Director of the King County Office of Emergency Management. “Vashon Island is a model community here in King County for emergency preparedness. We would like to use Vashon as an example of how other communities can work on a local level to be prepared.”
This year’s scenario calls for an early morning mock earthquake that will jar all the Island’s disaster responders out of bed and into non-stop action practicing their skills and procedures. With this major earthquake scenario, the volunteers will be dealing with extensive damage and injuries on Vashon. Additionally, the scenario also calls for no communications via telephones, cell phones and the Internet due to damage from the earthquake, so emergency communications will only be possible by two-way radio and couriers.
More than two hundred volunteers and first responders will participate in the drill including firefighters, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) and Neighborhood Emergency Response Organizations (NERO), the Vashon Emergency Operations Center Team, the Medical Reserve Corps, Vashon Maury Island Radio Club, and the Voice of Vashon (VoV) radio station.
Reporters and editors interested in observing the Vashon Disaster Drill should contact VashonBePrepared’s Public Information Officer May Gerstle at 206-463-0974, or come to the Vashon Main Fire Station, 10020 SW Bank Rd. Vashon, WA 206-463-2405.
For more information on Vashon Island’s emergency preparedness efforts visit http://www.VashonBePrepared.org.(external link)