Ready Hailey: Community Preparedness Day Awardee

Posted by nwsoadmin on December 22nd, 2010 Posted in: Emergency Preparedness, Funding, News From NNLM PNR

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Submitted by LeAnn Gelskey, Hailey Public Library, Hailey, ID

The Hailey Public Library received a $5,000 outreach award to host a free emergency preparedness and planning community event.  The event was held on October 23, 2010.  The event “Ready Hailey” partnered with local agencies and community organizations to bring information specific to emergency preparedness and planning to the community.

The goals of the event were:

1. Participants will have a better understanding of how to access information, both in an emergency and in planning or preparing for an emergency.
2. Participants will have an improved knowledge of emergency preparedness and planning.
3. Participants will know better what to do in an emergency.

The event made use of select information and tools provided through FEMA’s “Ready America” campaign – www. ready.gov.  Also, Hailey prepared and provided customized local emergency information specific to Hailey residents.  Project partners assisted with providing this information and worked with Hailey to provide streamlined, easy to use materials that were distributed to participants.  Project partners were in attendance the day of the event to talk about emergency preparedness issues, distribute materials and answer participant questions.  Participants included organizations such as St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center, Air St. Luke’s, Idaho Power, Red Cross, Hailey Police and Fire Departments, La Alianza Multicultural Center, Blaine County Disaster Services, Boy Scouts, LDS Church, National Weather Service, Albertson’s, Treasure Valley Coffee, Blaine County School District, Crisis Hotline, and Wood River Amateur Radio.

The event featured the distribution of 200 72-hour emergency kits.

Hailey’s application for the award pointed to recent emergency situations (last winter’s extended power outage and the Castle Rock Fire) as examples of the community’s need for better knowledge and information of emergency preparedness and planning.

Ready Hailey was a strong outreach component to citizens which identified both citizen and government roles in various types of emergencies and trained practical steps to take before, during and after emergency events.

It was a very successful event!