Maxwell Park Neighborhood News

by Sarah Hipolito

Maxwell Parkers Join Emergency Response Team

Remember when you were little? What did you want to be when you grew up? Nick Stoughton says he wanted to be a fireman. Lucky for us! Raised in England, he met his current wife, Toni, while attending computer conferences. He decided to move across the pond despite objections from his family, who wanted to know why he would want to live in a place that was going to have THE BIG ONE.

After he settled in, Nick figured he should learn something about emergency preparedness and took Berkeley's Community Emergency Response Team courses, which involved the Fire Department, of course.

When he met Jan Hetherington and Alice Ross-Leon at a Morcom Street Block party, he learned they were members of Maxwell Park Emergency Response Team (MPERT). They told him about the emergency preparedness training they had from Citizens of Oakland Responding to Emergencies (CORE). Nick attended CORE training and joined forces with Jan, Alice, Joe Davis, and Jose Dorado to revitalize MPERT.

We are lucky to have such dedicated and adventurous people among us. MPERT members who are CORE-certified will be invaluable in expediting and coordinating assistance from the Fire and Police Department in a disaster situation. Those who are not trained in emergency preparedness may want to help but will need trained leadership to be truly helpful.

Until Hurricane Katrina taught us a lesson, most of us thought that government resources would step in to rescue us in a disaster. Now we know that we should be prepared to spend at least five days on our own.

Not only do we need to have emergency supplies on hand, we need to know how to help each other and keep our property safe.

Imagine the following: A eucalyptus tree above your house crashes onto your roof during the storm. Your kitchen and living room are badly damaged, but no one was injured. What are your primary concerns? What will you do first? What kind of help do you need, and what help do you think you can realistically expect?

Or this: You notice smoke coming from a neighbor's window. What should you do first? What next?

These are the types of scenarios Nick presented at our last Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council meeting. Not knowing the answers to these questions certainly made me sit up and think about getting CORE-trained.

It also motivated me to participate in the citywide disaster response exercise to be held on Saturday, April 29. The exercise, which is being replicated throughout Oakland, will last for an hour, with another hour spent discussing lessons learned.

If you want to test your mettle, come to Maxwell Park Elementary School at 10 a.m. Wear outdoor clothing and comfortable shoes. Adults and children over 12 are welcome. This will be a great opportunity to see how the neighborhood responds to an emergency.

Contact Nick Stoughton, MPERT\@maxwellparknc.com.