FHNA Emergency Preparedness Website

FederalHeightsReady.com

I have been working on the emergency preparedness website above for Federal Heights residents for several months now. I am pleased to announce that this website, sponsored by the Federal Heights Neighborhood Association, is now up and ready to access on the world wide web. This website puts at your fingertips a great deal of updated information regarding emergency preparedness that I have gleaned from Homeland Security, Salt Lake Emergency Management, the Red Cross and the Utah Department of Health. All of these documents can be downloaded. The site also contains downloadable forms to complete a Family Plan Notebook. If you do not understand how to use the website, click the button on the Homepage that reads "How to Use This Site." If you find yourself completely lost do not hesitate to contact me.

I have mapped out Federal Heights into 30 Areas. Each Area includes households that are on the same street, or that have an eyeball view of one another. This information can be found on the FederalHeightsReady.com website under the "Your Block Plan Tab" at the top of the home page. Click that tab to find a map of the the specific Area in which your property exists. I will be holding meetings during the coming months to help residents put together an emergency response plan for their specific Area. Please consider becoming a leader on your street. Remember, we are only as prepared as our neighbors are prepared, so we need to volunteer and we need to encourage our neighbors to prepare and become part of the plan.

I am also working with the Emergency Preparedness Community Coordinator for Salt Lake City , the Greater Avenues Community Council, and the LDS Emigration Stake to help us all get on the same page in regard to Emergency Preparedness, specifically where communications are concerned. But it is individual preparedness at the family level and the block level that will make the difference in regard to our survival in the event of a disaster.

Salt Lake Emergency Management has informed me that 72 hour preparedness is a thing of the past. 72 hours is the absolute minimum, according to First Responders in Salt Lake City, that we should plan to be on our own. We really need to plan to be without help for at least 96 hours. Although Salt Lake City is doing a great deal to prepare for a disaster, there are only 600 First Responders in the City. Homeland Security has put Salt Lake City in 4th place in regard to the amount of damage that would be done to our City in an earthquake. A 7.0 earthquake would produce at least 9,000 casualties, and displace at least 200,000 households, so we must be prepared to respond to our own needs following a disaster.

We all need to be CERT trained. I have been promising Federal Heights residents that a CERT class would be scheduled specifically for them in March or April of this year at the local LDS Ward. Unfortunately, CERT training has been suspended for a time because funding from FEMA has been cut, so I am working with the Greater Avenues Community Council to see if we can find the funding necessary to provide CERT classes for Federal Heights residents.

On April 5th Homeland Securities' "Earthquake Lady", Maralin Hoff, is scheduled to come and speak to residents in Federal Heights at 7:00 p.m. at the LDS Ward building at 1300 Fairfax. Please set this date aside and bring your family. Besides being extremely entertaining, she will teach you exactly what and what not to do during an earthquake.

If you have any questions about the new website, or you would like to volunteer to serve on your block, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Beverly Nelson
Federal Heights Emergency Preparedness Specialist
beaverfly7@hotmail.com
801-521-4351