In a joint effort, the Community Emergency Response Team, a disaster preparedness public charity called OCEVA, and Neighbor 4 Neighbor are changing the face of disaster preparedness in western Orange County. Residents in Cypress, Los Alamitos, La Palma, Buena Park, Westminster, and Seal Beach are benefitting from the training through programs offered by these organizations.
“Over the past eight years, CERT volunteers have helped many neighborhoods set up their own Neighbor 4 Neighbor program,” said Roberta O’Toole, whose husband, Pat, created a list of almost 100 events, classes, and programs in which training has occurred.
Trainings have been held in West County CERT cities and in Rossmoor. Neighbors learn to work together for everyone’s benefit. On May 21, a meet and greet event was held in Seal Beach for residents in the neighborhood around Stanford Lane.
“Neighborhoods request our help. We teach them to organize meetings, recruit block captains, and come out during emergencies to help each other,” said Loree Erpalding, Cypress Police Department Emergency Services Coordinator and liaison to West County CERT.
“Our volunteers come to the events to assist neighbors in their efforts to form their N4N group,” said Erpalding.
The recent Seal Beach event featured vendor booths, police and fire department personnel, and more than 100 local residents.
The Seal Beach Lions Club provided food, Miss Seal Beach pageant winners greeted residents, Los Alamitos-based Suncoast Fire Protection sold and refilled fire extinguishers, and Southern California Edison had a representative demonstrating utility shut-off procedures.
Additionally, West County CERT and N4N had information booths, and City Girl Prepper demonstrated emergency supplies recommended for homes.
“Our goal,” said Erpalding, “is helping neighbors become better acquainted with each other and prepare to survive the unexpected. We want people to become familiar with their neighbors and be prepared to work together in a disaster of an individual or large scale. N4N is a combination of Neighborhood Watch and disaster preparation.”
The next N4N is scheduled at Cypress Village on Sunday, October 15. Those wishing to start a N4N program in their community should contact Erpalding.
Erpalding teaches four-hour first aid classes to help residents increase their preparedness. Since the classes utilize books and materials that residents get to keep, $23 per person is charged to cover the materials.
The CERT program starting this fall is a 20-hour, two weekend disaster-preparation curriculum open to all residents. Information about all programs and classes may be obtained by contacting Erpalding at either 714-229-6625 or LErpelding@cypressca.org.
“Like CERT, N4N shows that a little knowledge will help you,” said Sergeant Dave Barr, Seal Beach Police Department Emergency Services Coordinator. “When a situation arises, you can deal with it.”
This article appeared in the May 24, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.
