Nancy Nickerson – Page 7 – Mt. Washington Jessica Neighborhood

05 Jul

Socially Distanced Radio Drill 7/26

Ben during the 2019 Drill – right before the sprinklers went off behind him

Every year we try to have a drill to practice our Map Your Neighborhood skills and sometimes to coordinate with our local Community Emergency Response Teams. The pandemic has made such team efforts unlikely and even unsafe. This year we will focus on Communications through a Drill using walkie talkies from our homes.

We won’t be going to our gathering sites but we can form “pretend teams” on the radio. There won’t be any incident cards to find, we’ll just discuss various possibilities over the radios.

Everyone stays at their home location, uses their radio
Block TEAMS check in with their BASE Operator (there are 22 of these)
BASE Operators check in with their HUB Operators (there are 5 of these)
HUB Operators check in with STAGING Operator (Only 1 of these)
Practice passing information through the network
Virtual Debriefing on Zoom or on FRS Channel 5

In a real disaster, being able to communicate with your neighbors is extremely important. We’ve been trained to do this by all going to the same place to coordinate a response plan. If something major were to happen during at stay at home pandemic, we would need another way to account for everyone. We have our contact lists, but if power were to go out and cell towers overloaded, our battery operated walkie-talkies would be a much better bet than phones or email/text

We will have several opportunities (see News and Events) to practice and get our radios in working order before the drill. If you don’t know where yours are, now’s a good time to look. Please plan to participate on Sunday, July 26 from 2-4 pm. What else did you think you were going to do that day??

26 Apr

Weeding Weekend at Jessica Triangle 5/1 – 5/4

Wanna get out of the house? Well, here a fun and helpful opportunity in your neighborhood this weekend.

With all the rain this past winter, the JESSICA TRIANGLE needs to be weeded. It’s the landmark at the intersection of Jessica Drive and Cleland Avenue. Beginning in the late 90′s, local residents helped transform the triangle from a litter-strewn patch of asphalt to a beautifully landscaped drought-tolerant pocket park, and neighbors have been maintaining it ever since.

We can’t really have a work day, where people from around the neighborhood gather and work all at the same time. But we can have VIRTUAL WORK DAY, where each family selects a 2-hour time slot during which they will come an work.

Of course, you aren’t expected to work the whole 2 hours! However, when you reserve that block of time, you are asking that no one else go to the Triangle so you and the people who live with you can work safely without having to worry about social distancing in the Triangle area. 30 minutes. 60 minutes. 90 minutes. 120 minutes. Whatever suits your schedule, your family size, and your abilities.

Bring your own tools, and maybe a garbage bag (or your own green bin if you are close by) dig up the weeds, and then send a picture of your team to info@mtwashingtonjessica.org so we can post it. Just focus on weeding. We’ll take care of any pruning. If you’re not sure if its a weed or a good plant, leave it alone.

There are sawhorse signs that ask people to not walk through the Triangle while you are working. Please post them at each end of the path, and replace them under the tree when you’re done.

Can’t donate some time? How about donating money to the MWJN Beautification Fund? Donate here [http://mtwashingtonjessica.org/support-us/donate>] and please note “beautification – Triangle” to make sure your donation goes to the right place.

Sign up for your family’s time slot on Doodle: doodle.com/poll/5zn23c2d6ms74m8g .

Send any Questions to info@mtwashingtonjessica.org

And thanks in advance for your help!

10 Oct

Sunday Radio Practice

EVERY SUNDAY AT 7PM on Channel 5

neighbor, Lucas, with radio

Every Sunday we virtually gather on channel 5 at 7pm. The idea is we get used to knowing where our radios are and keep them charged or with fresh batteries so that when we really need them in a disaster, we’ll be ready and know what to do. Its also an opportunity to check in with the neighborhood and make sure everyone is ok. And to have a safe way to connect with those around us.

The format of the radio practice is informal. We organize the call in by street name. When your street name is called say your first name or call sign and the name of your street, so “This is Andrew on Palmero”. You will get some kind of acknowledgement and perhaps info on how clearly you can be heard. Please join us! If you don’t have a radio, we may be able to connect you with someone on your block who has spares. We can also offer a pair of radios to anyone donating $30 to to our nonprofit. See our donate page and specify in the notes the quantity of radios you would like.

10 Oct

Radio Workshop Wednesday, Oct. 16

Did your walkie -talkie work as planned during the drill? Are you overwhelmed by technology and need a little hand-holding to get started? Can you turn it on but don’t know what to say or when to say it? Do you understand everything there is to know about using radios but wish your neighbors had better training?

COME TO A SPECIAL RADIO WORKSHOP

Wednesday, Oct 16 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm
Coptic Church – 4900 Cleland Ave. 90042
(downstairs – walk down the driveway on the left side of the church as you’re facing it and enter through the doorway on your right)

Bring your radios (whether you purchased them yourself or received a set for your block)

We will go over:

Turning radios on and off
Charging, battery care and maintenance
Changing channels
Push-to-talk
Effective protocols (what to say)
Our Mt. Washington Jessica radio plan
Challenges of our hilly neighborhood
What is a repeater and what you need to know about it
What worked and didn’t with radios during our last drill
Any questions you may have about radios