Good Neighbors Map Their Neighborhood

One of the really great programs in the South Bay is Neighborhood Watch. It's one of the major reasons for our low crime rates. Since 911, the emphasis of NW has been on Disaster Planning and Preparation. Read more about what to have on hand here: www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_601_,00.html

I share the Neighborhood Watch Block Captain title and duties with my two nearest neighbors. We recently attended a meeting called Map Your Neighborhood. It's a program that's designed to get neighborhoods working together to keep injuries and fires to a minimum. It's great to know what to do for your individual family, but once things are set at home it's time to pull the neighborhood's talents and assets together for whatever the time period may be following, say, an earthquake until state and/or national help arrives.

We've done basic disaster prep training on our block. Now NW is helping us prepare for how to work together as a block in the first critical hour following a disaster -- called the Golden Hour. How many of us know our neighbor's first names let alone their skills, talents or special medical needs? And even if we know a couple of the neighbors, everything goes out of our brains in those first few minutes following something like a major earthquake.

Did you know that the most common injury is cut feet from glass? Keep a pair of sturdy shoes under your bed.

Did you know that first responders: police, fire, paramedics and utility folks will not/cannot stop to put out a fire until they have finished their assessment of the entire area? Knowing how to shut off the gas valve at your home, if necessary, will greatly reduce fires. Knowing where the gas valves are for every house on your block will help you take care of your neighbors and prevent a fire from spreading to your home. Having every home on the block put two fire extinguishers in front of their house will mean that someone can stop a fire at your home.

The Map Your Neighborhood program began in Washington state. Here's a link to the basics: http://www.emd.wa.gov/myn/index.shtml. My thinking about all this is that the more I know about what to do, the less likely it is that I'll have to use it. My life works like that.