Practice makes perfect.

Our Red Cross volunteers never shy away from hard work, and that’s just what they did last weekend in Nehalem.  About 30 volunteers gathered at the North County Recreation District community center overlooking the city of Nahalem to conduct a sheltering training and exercise.  This location was chosen because it would likely be a high ground refuge for the Nehalem community in the event of a tsunami or earthquake. 
Coastal volunteers took a Red Cross sheltering course during the day and then participated in a shelter simulation through Saturday night and Sunday morning.  They planned shelter layout, elected a shelter manger and began set up.  At 6 p.m. clients (coastal volunteers and volunteers from Portland) began to arrive complete with roles to play, ranging from distraught individuals unable to find their spouses to those suffering from severe medical conditions.  Shelter workers and clients stayed overnight in the shelter; workers served dinner and breakfast during the exercise.
The exercise went very well; it was great hands on experience for all involved.  We’d like to say a very big thank you to Larry Wiedenhoft and Tim Anderson who coordinated the entire sheltering exercise and to all the coastal and regional shelter volunteers who gave up their weekend to learn and practice shelter operations.
Others who made this exercise possible are:
  • North County Recreation District facilities manager – Peter Nunn, who made the facility available.
  • Emergency Management Division, Nehalem Bay & agency director, Linda Kozlowski KE7ZFI 
  • Coastal Volunteer Mary Moran who served as the shelter manager
  • The Secret Angels, a charitable organization that provides food during disasters and provided dinner and breakfast during the exercise at no cost
  • And John and Suzanne Holt, Janet Bailey Lynne Field, and Tina Chee, Portland volunteers and Casey Yamshita, AmeriCorps member who drove to the coast and served as clients/evaluators.

Thank you to all involved

3 comments

  • Very true practice is must require in any field for positive results, Regular exercise is one of the natural ways to get fit body structure and healthy diet also helps our physical and mental health, Thanks for Sharing.

  • people who save lives and have the ability to rescue is something extremely important for sure. These people are not getting enough recognition and shoud be appreciated.Thank you , great post ,

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