Aberdeen Neighborhood Housing Services is dedicated not only to quality, affordable housing but also to home safety for all residents of Grays Harbor.

That’s why we were excited to learn about the Aberdeen Fire Department’s series of emergency preparedness classes, called Community Emergency Response Training (CERT), and eager to pass the information along to you.

In a recent interview with Capt. George Stone, we learn about the content of each of the seven classes and how they were designed to prepare you and your home as well as your neighborhood, city and county for a major emergency. The focus is prevention, preparedness, self-reliance and helping others.

Frankly, we also hope to whet your appetite to take the course – we plan to take it ourselves soon.

We may not have to worry about tornadoes here, but just about all the rest of the natural disasters are a real possibility on the Twin Harbors.

It could be an unusually heavy windstorm, a tsunami, flood, or a blazing fire that could show up with little warning and test our community’s emergency preparedness. Or, it could very well be the big one (earthquake) and all the above, all at once.

George said that experience has shown fires usually come as a result of disasters. "Did you know, "he said, "experts theorize that if we ever have a substantial tsunami (a large tidal wave), entire sections of the Aberdeen area would drop six feet?" Yikes!

The point is, in the event of a disaster, emergency services must prioritize their response efforts and therefore may not get to you, your neighborhood or even your city for several days. We must be ready to fend for ourselves when the need arises.

These classes, held in groups of 10 to 15 people, are designed to pull as many residents as possible onto the same page… before a major event occurs.

Training the participants into this master plan prepares you, your family and your home to survive for at least three days without official help. If you know the plan you will be prepared to help others who don’t or can’t.

"Frankly, people used to know how to take care of themselves and how to look after their neighbors," George told us. "But nowadays most of us live a little more removed from the bare essentials of life. And therefore, our survival skills are a little rusty."

Here are some highlights of our interview.

One of the first things to do is to meet your neighbors. Get to know the people that you may be relying on and may be relying on you in a disaster.

It would be good to know who has special health conditions or unique needs, as well as who has special skills.

Is anyone an insulin-dependent diabetic, in need of oxygen or on heart medication?

Who in your neighborhood has medical or first-aid training? Who owns a generator, a chainsaw, a wood burning cook stove, or is willing to temporarily share their house with others? You get the idea.

Then take a look at your home. How can you make it more likely that you are one of those available to help others and not need help yourself?

Start from the bottom up – take a good look at your home’s foundation. Many homes on Grays Harbor have a post and block type foundation. You may need to properly secure the posts to the beams to make it through a stronger earthquake than last summer’s.

Other homes may have a concrete or block foundation, but it may need some work or the addition of seismic straps. Looking at your foundation and then fixing it if necessary could save your house and maybe even your loved ones’ lives in the event of a disaster.

Next, take a look at your chimney. Is it made from un-reinforced masonry? Is it a mid-wall chimney (the kind that start half way up the wall instead of going all the way to the ground)? In older homes on the Harbor we see these all the time. The fire department does too – often when called upon to determine the cause of a house fire. They are a potential danger to you on an everyday basis as well as a definite hazard when the earth starts to move.

Another easy thing to check on is whether tall, heavy pieces of furniture, shelves, etc. are properly secured to the wall. An earthquake can topple an armoire, chest of drawers or other such item right onto a loved one.

Another thing to do in preparing for disaster is to make sure you know where some key shutoffs are at your house.

Do you and others living in your house know how to shut off the electricity, water and gas if need be?

It’s not enough for just Dad to know. Anyone in a house that’s 12 years or older should know where those shutoffs are. Remember that disasters don’t necessarily come when everyone is at home together.

Capt. Stone said it’s important to have a pre-determined, out-of-state person to call in case of emergency. During community disasters, local phone lines may be damaged or at least clog up with calls – making it hard to find out if your loved ones at home, school or work are safe.

Each family member can call the out-of-state friend to use as a clearing house for messages, or just to let each other know they are OK.

There’s plenty of other good safety and emergency preparedness tips that George has to share – everything from what you should have on hand to how to extinguish small fires on your own. The course culminates in a fun field exercise to put what you learn into action.

The curriculum for the CERT class is broken down into seven classes about 2 ½ hours each. However, George says he’s willing to teach folks in flexible schedules, including once a week or possibly a full weekend course or whatever works for the group of people.

George says he’ll schedule the next one as soon as enough folks express interest or a group calls him up and schedules it. (Call the Aberdeen Fire Department’s business line at 532-1254 for more information.)

Like we said, we’re planning to take it soon and hope we’ll see you there, neighbor.