SPM-EP’s second community education class was held on Tuesday August 23rd and drew an enthusiastic crowd from our neighborhood, as we dove into the nitty gritty of what is in a Home Emergency Kit including food and water supplies.

Neighbor Stan Halle provided an overview on our emergency plan that is being built for our South Parrett Mountain community.  The message was to get involved by creating your home emergency plan and kits, and get
your children & family involved in the process.  Get trained in first aid/CPR, CERT, search & rescue, ham radio and other areas of interest to you; all good skills to have in the event of a disaster.  Stan stressed that everyone needs to do their part being prepared in their own homes with an emergency plan and kits that include food and water for 2 weeks to 30-days for you, your family, and your animals.

This program is about neighbors helping neighbors.  Get to know
your neighbors, share information on our plan and encourage them to attend training classes.  Let’s build this plan together to save lives and property in the event of a disaster.

Neighbor Linda Edwards discussed importance on filling out the resource questionnaire which is now available on our website, www.SPM-EP.org, to complete and submit on-line.  We need to know the people this plan serves and the resources, including skills and equipment available throughout our area.  Information is confidential and only will be used in the event of an emergency.

Guest speaker Kent Stuart, a survival skills instructor who is retired
from the police force and is on a search and rescue team provided great information of items for your emergency kits with a large display of products.  He brought several water filtration devices, demonstrated simple plastic wind & rain protective shields and discussed how and where to store your kits.  Kent offered a lot of great information from his experiences and background in survival, search & rescue.

The evening was ended with a special guest speaker, Jeni Billups
with Oregon Freeze Dried (Mountain House) freeze dried foods. She shared with us options for foods that can go into your kits.  These included cans to packages to freeze dried and the pros and cons to consider for each.  She explained the science behind freeze drying and when

rehydrated with hot water, it taste just like it did when first made.  They provided  provided samples of 3 of their Mountain House products including lasagna with meat sauce, and everyone was impressed by how good it tasted.  A generous discount was offered for attendees on a one time purchase.  With a shelf life of 30 years, an easy affordable solution was offered
for much of your food needs in your emergency kit.

3 neighbors, Wade Parkin, Stan Halle and Sharon Halle, all CERT trained, displayed their emergency kits for all to view.

Linda Edwards announced that we are building a relationship with Prepare Smart, an on-line company in Kent, WA who supplies items for emergency supplies.  Two examples of kits they offer were displayed that you can purchase through them.  They sell individual items as well as starter kits which you can customize for your needs. www.preparesmart.com.

The next class will be on Tuesday 9/13, 7-9pm.
Subject: Local Wildfires and services of Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) and The American Red Cross.
Register on-line: www.SPM-EP.org

We hope to see you then!