by Sarah Lane on October 3, 2011.

This is the second part of our series on Disaster Preparedness on the Island. Inside Bainbridge has been meeting and working with The Bainbridge Island Fire Department and with Prepared Neighborhoods, a new citizen group, to prepare citizens through education and information dissemination for potential disasters. We’re setting up systems so that, in the event of an actual disaster, Inside Bainbridge can help keep you alerted to the latest information from the Fire Department, Kitsap Department of Emergency Management, and Prepared Neighborhoods. Read Part 1.

If you want to (1) be part of or (2) find out about the new Disaster Preparedness effort on Bainbridge Island, set aside tomorrow evening, Monday October 3, from 7 to 9 p.m., and get on down to the Commons for the public meeting hosted by Prepared Neighborhoods.

Prepared Neighborhoods, which operates under the umbrella of Sustainable Bainbridge, is dedicated to helping the Island get to a satisfactory level of disaster preparedness. It is the brainchild of Bainbridge Islander Scott James.

Scott James

When James first became a member of Sustainable Bainbridge, he noticed that the same group of people kept showing up for the organization’s events and projects. He wanted to come up with some sort of project that would appeal to a broader segment of the population, reaching more people with the organization’s sustainability message. Then he had an idea: One thing that most people would be interested in is how to prepare themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods for emergencies.

James explained the connection between disaster prep and sustainability: “Once you start getting direct neighbors to talk to each other about where to meet in an emergency, it’s a short step to having them talk about doing a community vegetable garden in the cul-de-sac or the local pea patch. About turning their apartment building into a zero-waste complex.”

For James, who is the owner of Fair Trade Sports, provider of sustainably made sports balls, this kind of thinking is nothing new. “Most of my day jobs are related to sustainability,” he said to me. “That’s what I think about all day long anyway.”

James started looking for collaborators to help him develop Prepared Neighborhoods. That part happened quickly—”one of the joys of living on a small island,” in his opinion. He brought on Cathie Currie, the Energy Efficient Communities Program Coordinator at Puget Sound Energy. Then he and Currie recruited Marit Saltrones, a partner at Bainbridge-based JSL Communications, provider of continuing education training for emergency responders. And they recruited Sandra Davis, a managing partner of ECO Resource Group, an organizational consultant firm that focuses on achieving sustainability.

“One of our express goals,” James said, “is we want to embed this kind of sustainability thinking and cooperation in as many different civic, faith-based, and community groups as possible.” To that end, Prepared Neighborhoods recruited Jenni Brewster, who is married to Grant Brewster, pastor of Island Church. And the group contacted David Cowan, a doctor at the Virginia Mason Winslow clinic. He has been compiling a network of medically trained professionals who can be called upon during an emergency. James then recruited Inside Bainbridge to help with information dissemination, both before and during an emergency.

Central to the Prepared Neighborhoods’ strategy is the creation of emergency centers all over the island, so that each neighborhood has a central location at which people can convene during an emergency situation or its aftermath. These centers, which will each be equipped with a generator, will serve as warming stations during power outages. During larger emergencies, they will serve as temporary information, supply distribution, emotional support, and medical centers. The organization plans to locate them in already-existing locations, such as churches and religious centers.

Although Prepared Neighborhoods is working on a five-year plan to establish and equip all of the centers, James said that they want people to see many results of their work right away. The key to their success, he said, is citizen involvement. Because of severe budget cuts and overworked civil servants, the city needs people to get involved in helping their own families and local communities. Prepared Neighborhoods is creating a framework for that involvement, but the plan will not work unless citizens sign up and find out how to connect with their neighbors in advance of an emergency and how to establish warming stations/emergency centers in their own neighborhoods.

And that’s where tomorrow night’s meeting comes in. James is hoping that citizens from a wide range of backgrounds will show up to find out how they can get involved and how to apply their specific skills and interests.

At the meeting, Bainbridge Island Fire Chief Hank Teran and Phyllis Mann, Director of the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management, will be on hand to define their departments’ roles. And a host of other representatives from the media, schools, the medical establishment, and the nonmotorized transportation community will be participating as well.

Prepared Neighborhoods will introduce meeting attendees to the Map Your Neighborhood program. And they will distribute lists of emergency supplies recommended for family emergency kits. James encourages citizens to bring their questions.

James told me, “I have a personal passion for staying prepared, for keeping my family and neighbors looked after. About turning off Facebook and knowing who the people are around you. There’s nothing wrong with social media for staying in touch with people around the globe, but for local relationships face to face is better.” So bring your face to the meeting tomorrow and start the emergency preparation process.

The meeting is from 7-9 p.m. Monday, October 3, at the Commons, at 370 Brien Drive.

Images courtesy of Sarah Lane, Scott James, and Washington State Map Your Neighborhood.