PREP has been in the process of talking to the people of Point Roberts regarding what they know about PREP. As a result of these discussions, we thought it would be appropriate to explain further as to what PREP is about and how we can help you.
Who is PREP and what do we do? PREP is a group of Point Roberts residents who volunteer many hours of their time working with local, state, and national organizations. Our goal is to have a set of protocols and structure that can be implemented during a disaster which include all the resources we have available in Point Roberts.
PREP recruits volunteers who have been trained or are willing to be trained in areas such as first aid, community emergency response training, shelter management training, CPR, etc. We achieve this by liaising with such groups as the Red Cross, Washington State and Whatcom County departments of emergency management who help to provide the training required.
In addition to building a group of trained, qualified people who can help in emergency situations, PREP also works toward indentifying all non-people resources that we have in Point Roberts and developing a protocol which can be used during emergency periods. For example, protocol is in place for the International Marketplace to distribute food coupons in the event of large emergencies which would require their services. Secondly, PREP has listed most of the emergency equipment and their operators available in Point Roberts who can help during a disaster. This equipment ranges from excavators to backhoes to power generators and other rescue equipment that are not part of the fire department. We have also worked with the Red Cross and have established 3 official locations that could be used as a shelter for those who require shelter. These locations are the community center, church, and the primary school.
PREP also has a group of volunteers who deal with animal welfare and establishing protocol which addresses the issue of what to do with animals that need shelter or to be looked after while their owners are helping with the disaster.
Our volunteer communication team has established protocol and connectivity with a number of areas outside Point Roberts. In the event of a total communications failure, our group can maintain contact with emergency officials via HAM radio operation. This will greatly enhance our ability to work with officials in reference to arriving help and/or helping each other within the community.
As stated earlier, the basic goal of PREP is to organize all our local resources until help arrives. However PREP is not a mini-FEMA. Our premise is based on being a “conduit for neighbors helping neighbors”. What does this mean? This means our organization can only succeed if residents and visitors of Point Roberts are self prepared and self sufficient. This requires people being responsible for themselves so that they can help others who might be in need. PREP expects there will be residents and visitors who might not be able to access their prepared emergency equipment, food, shelter, water, and other items in a major disaster. This is where we ask upon the community to help provide items for families and to bring these items to designated staging or shelter areas. PREP does have some food stockpiled at our shelters. We also have been working toward attaining cots and other items through government surplus or purchase via donations or from fundraising events.
However, PREP is not only about large disasters. PREP can also help you in smaller emergencies. For example, if we had a snowfall or freezing rain that inhibited the ability for someone to leave their residence and purchase food or medications, PREP could find someone in our database that has a 4 wheel drive that could access these areas and help the resident by providing transportation. Second, if we experience a storm that creates an extended power outage in the winter and a resident has no heat or power in their house, we have people in our database who are willing to provide shelter for a short term basis. Third, if Point Roberts experienced flooding, we can look at a residence and report back to the distant or holidaying owners if they call PREP and ask for the service.
In conclusion, PREP’s success is based on people being willing to prepare themselves in case a of disaster and people willing to volunteers to help PREP. In fact, we have PREP members who do not attend our regular monthly meeting but will help if called upon. PREP needs you and your experience. If you are interesting in joining our meetings and use your areas of expertise to help the people of Point Roberts, we meet the first Tuesday of every month
