Survey to determine residents’ emergency preparedness

Courtesy Churchill County Public Information Officer, Anne McMillin -- Survey taken in-person at 200+ random county homes Oct. 16 through 19 Churchill County Emergency Management and the Local Emergency Planning Committee is partnering with Nevada State Public Health Preparedness to conduct a Community Assessment Survey for Public Health Emergency Response, or CASPER in September. Churchill County is the third jurisdiction in Nevada to conduct the assessment. “The information gathered from door-to-door surveys will be used to better prepare Churchill County for the next disaster or emergency,” said Mike Heidemann, Churchill County’s emergency manager. Teams of volunteers will be knocking on doors throughout Churchill County on Oct. 16 through 19 to complete brief surveys about household preparedness. Households are chosen at random so not every neighborhood will be selected and not every household within a neighborhood will be interviewed. Participation is voluntary and residents can decline to participate at any time. The volunteers will not ask for any personal information such as names or place of birth. All survey responses will be kept confidential. Survey teams will be wearing vests and badges and carrying special bags that will identify them as CASPER team members. Upon completion of the survey, households will be given emergency preparedness information and tools. Volunteers needed Volunteers are needed to assist with the survey. You will be placed in teams of two to survey assigned clusters of homes from Oct. 16 through 19. Volunteers should have their own vehicle for transportation and be able to walk, stand and move for four hours per day. A mandatory volunteer training session will be held Oct. 8 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the TCID board room on Harrigan Road to familiarize volunteers on the survey process, the questionnaire itself and safety protocols. A shorter, “just in time” training will be held at the beginning of each day’s assessment. Please consider volunteering for this assessment. CASPER is a great service opportunity to help identify the community’s greatest needs. To volunteer in assessing households, please contact Emily Gould, Nevada Public Health Preparedness Program at (775)684-3216 or [email protected]. For more information on the CASPER survey, please visit: www.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/disaster/casper/default.htm