What would you do if a big earthquake hit your city?

Part of 211info's community role is to serve as an informational back up to emergency services in times of disaster. And as any middle schooler knows, the only way you can truly be prepared is to practice.

Here’s some thoughts from Tim Tim VanArsdale, the man in charge at 211info if an emergency strikes:

On September 27, we participated with several agencies, including Portland’s Office of Emergency management (POEM), amateur radio operators, police and fire, and advisors from WebEOC, which housed critical incident information. 211info’s role in this drill was the same as our role in a real disaster, serving as the “go-to” team for information relating to the incident

My preparation including gathering and preparing to distribute information for callers, such as shelter openings, road conditions and closures, public school status, supplies and other public information.

Before the drill, I drafted an email to the 211info Community Information Center (CIC) that included a brief overview of the disaster drill, what to expect from callers, how to respond to callers, and what to do if information was limited or non-existent.

My role during the incident was to keep everyone up to speed on the information received from WebEOC and City of Portland public information officers (PIOs). When the Community Information Centers’ call center staff received a call that requested information that was not in our database, I contacted the PIO to solicit further information.

Given the short notice and the speed at which information was changing, I feel the Community Information Center did an amazing job of fielding calls and responding to callers’ requests for information. During the disaster drill, the CIC experienced a large spike in incoming calls unrelated to the disaster drill. In spite of changing information and high call volume, the CIC staff maintained their professionalism.

I really enjoyed this exercise, and I think it was interesting to experience the types of calls and speed at which the information was changing. I’m looking forward to another exercise in April.

Watching from a distance it was fascinating to see the emails roll in one after another and imagine for a second if these things were really happening.

I’m sure my first thoughts would be of family and friends. But there is no time to hesitate. An action plan needs to be put in to place. And no matter what happens, like a major bridge falling in the Willamette River (In the exercise it was the St. John’s Bridge surprisingly, not the Sellwood), Tim and the other 211info employees would have a job to do.

Of course we all hope nothing like this ever happens. But if it does, remember to dial 911 in a life threatening situation and 211 for information about the incident.

And you can do so in confidence, because you know we practice.