The City and County of Honolulu's Department of Emergency Management is providing advanced notice about Emergency Preparedness Fairs for 2016. Look for the one in your area and join us!

 

Save the dates on your calendar and visit the fair in your area! If you live in another county, contact your County Civil Defense Agency and ask about when there will be Disaster Preparedness Fairs in your area.

For more information, contact the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Emergency Management at (808) 723-8956 and ask for Crystal.

The State Department of Health (DOH) is having a Strategic National Stockpile full scale exercise on Thursday, April 28, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. This is an Oahu event.

 

DOH will be setting up a public Point of Distribution (POD) to rapidly provide medications as if there were an actual health emergency. They are seeking volunteers to be actors to come in and pick up medication. There will be no treatments actually provided and no real medicine will be given to you. DOH is only asking for volunteer actors.

There is a need to have volunteers with different types of disabilities to see if you will understand directions given and know how to take the medication distributed. If you would like to volunteer for the event, you have several options to register and learn more about the program. You may call DCAB and register with Debbie Jackson at 586-8121 or e-mail her at dcab@doh.hawaii.gov or with Tammy Evrard at the Developmental Disabilities Council at 586-8100.  If you have a computer, and want to register yourself you can go online to https://hawaiisns2016.eventbrite.com. Once you register, you will be e-mailed a ticket that you can print out and bring to the event.

 
Volunteers must be 18 years and older or minors accompanied by an adult. Volunteers will be asked to complete a short medication screening questionnaire for themselves with mock information. Lunch and refreshments will be provided to all registered volunteers. Please wear comfortable clothes.

The schedule for the exercise will be:

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.    Volunteer Actor Registration. Please arrive/sign-in no later than 9:30 a.m.

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.  Volunteer Actor Briefing (DOH will explain the exercise to all volunteers)

10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.  Point of Dispensing (POD) Exercise Operations

11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  Volunteer Actor Feedback Session/Lunch

Please let DOH know if you need an auxiliary aid or service (ASL interpreter, material in alternate format, etc.) to participate in the exercise. The registration form has a space to fill in for auxiliary aids and services or other accommodations that may be needed, due to a disability, to participate in the event. We would like to encourage people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs to participate so what we can all learn what to do if such an event occurs.

The Kauai County American Red Cross (ARC) Chapter is recruiting volunteers to to train and assist in emergencies.

 

Padraic Gallagher, the Director of the Kauai County Red Cross Chapter said that if there is an emergency or hurricane, the County Civil Defense Agency looks to the American Red Cross for volunteers. Without volunteers the shelters can't open.

Currently, there are fourteen (14) shelters identified and seventy-two (72) ARC volunteers on Kauai. Each building in the shelter will require a minimum of two people to staff and operate it. Mr. Gallagher's goal is to recruit and train at least thirty (30) more volunteers.

ARC shelter volunteers need to be on-call 24 hours a day and ready at a moment's notice. The volunteer recruitment is scheduled to coincide with American Red Cross Month in March. If you are interested in volunteering, contact the Kauai Chapter of the American Red Cross at (808) 245-4919.